Authorities said two people died yesterday when a private jet crashed on a Florida highway after losing its engines.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 had five people on board when it fell around 3:15pm (2015 GMT) on Interstate 75 near Naples, the Federal Aviation Administration said on X, the new Twitter.

The pilot told air traffic control “he had lost both engines and needed an emergency landing,” two minutes before the plane was due to land at Naples Municipal Airport, airport spokesperson Robin King said in a statement to AFP.

“The air traffic controller cleared the plane to land right away when the pilot said he couldn’t reach the runway … (and) tried to land on I-75.”

King said three people lived through the crash. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said the two victims were killed on impact.

It was unclear if the plane hit any cars on the highway.

Local media showed the plane’s flaming wreckage on the highway’s edge, sending up black smoke.

The plane left from Ohio State University Airport, King said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will look into the crash.