MIAMI (AFP) - Three people were feared dead on Friday after a small plane crashed shortly after taking off from Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida, local media reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that a Piper PA-31 aircraft slammed into a warehouse area just after leaving the airport around 4.20pm (4.20am Singapore time).

The identities and numbers of passengers on board the twin engine plane were not immediately available.

However, CNN affiliate WPLG Local 10 television cited Fort Lauderdale city officials as saying that three people were believed to be onboard the plane, and were presumed dead.

Television footage of the aftermath of the crash indicated the plane had ploughed into a parking lot, triggering an inferno.

The gutted wreckage of several burned vehicles could be seen as firefighters extinguished the flames.