NEW YORK -- A small plane on Sunday crashed into a parking lot in Lancaster County, the US state of Pennsylvania, injuring five people aboard, local authorities said.

The plane went down at around 3:18 pm Eastern Time (2018 GMT) in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township, just south of Lancaster Airport, shortly after taking off en route to Springfield, Ohio, according to officials.

All five people on board were injured and transported to local hospitals, said an official from the Manheim Township Fire Department at a press conference Sunday evening. No injuries were reported on the ground.

The crash also damaged around a dozen vehicles in the parking lot, the official added. Footage from the scene showed black smoke billowing from the wreckage, with several cars engulfed in flames.

So far, the cause of the crash remains unknown, and the Federal Aviation Administration said an investigation is underway.