MIAMI (AFP) - A small plane crash-landed on a beach in the US state of Florida, killing a father and critically injuring his young daughter, authorities said on Sunday.

The mid-afternoon incident in Venice involved a 1972 Piper Cherokee aircraft and neither the pilot nor his passenger was hurt, Wendy Rose of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The deceased father was walking along the Gulf Coast beach with his daughter, said to be 10 years old, when the plane crash-landed, Rose said.

The girl was transported to a children's hospital in St. Petersburg "and is believed to be in critical condition," she added.

Rose said the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was notified by Venice Airport officials that the pilot would attempt to make a beach landing after signaling he was in distress and could not make it back to the airfield.