A single-engine plane bound for Chattanooga reported engine failure before it crashed in Murray County, Ga., Friday night, FAA officials said.
Lynn Lunsford, spokesman for the FAA, said the engine trouble could have been fuel-related or mechanical, and a full investigation would determine the cause.
Two of the three passengers were killed in the wreck and a third was taken to Erlanger hospital, said Murray County, Ga., Sheriff Howard Ensley.
No identities had been released late Saturday.
Junior Cochran, who lives at the residence where the plane crashed and was first to the wreckage, said investigators told him the survivor, a male, was in critical condition at Erlanger with a 50 percent chance of survival.