TRAPPE, Md. (AP) -- Three people were killed after a small plane crashed in a field near U.S. 50 in southern Talbot County on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Preliminary reports indicated that three people were on board the plane, and all three died, said Paul Schlamm, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The plane, a dual-engine Piper PA-30, was heading from White Plains, N.Y., to Pinehurst, N.C., authorities said. It was registered in Greenwich, Conn.

Air traffic controllers at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland, about 35 miles southwest of the crash scene, had the plane on radar screens at 9:36 a.m. when they saw it descend rapidly, said John Romer, a base spokesman. Radio contact was also lost at that time.

The base notified authorities, who found debris scattered over a wide area at the muddy scene about six miles north of the Cambridge-Dorchester Airport.

The plane didn't strike any buildings and there was no fire, said Greg Shipley, a Maryland State Police spokesman.

NTSB investigators were sent to the crash scene from New Jersey, Schlamm said.