NBC sports chief in plane crash
At least two dead
(CNN) -- NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol was injured when a plane carrying him and five other people crashed and burned on takeoff in southwestern Colorado, the network said in its nightly news program.
At least two people on board were killed in Sunday's crash, officials said.
The private jet was taking off at 10 a.m. (noon ET) in snowy weather from Montrose Regional Airport when it crashed in nearby rugged terrain, said David Learned, communications supervisor for the Montrose County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities were using a helicopter in their search of the crash site -- which includes cedar trees and a large drainage ditch -- for one person, Learned said in a written statement.
Federal Aviation Administration regional spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the small jet was headed for South Bend, Ind., at the time of the incident, when it burst into flames at a fence at the end of the runway.
Montrose County resident Bill Sommers was about a quarter-mile (.40 kilometers) from the plane, in a Sunday school class, when he heard the first explosion.
"I looked out the window of our Sunday school room and I could see a ball of flame going down the runway," he told Fox News.
The plane went behind trailers next door, where it exploded again, he said.
Three men were taken to Montrose Memorial Hospital, where two were transferred to one hospital and the third was transferred to another.
Both of these hospitals were equipped to handle more serious cases, said Nursing Supervisor Linda McCool, who would not divulge their conditions.
"They specifically requested we not give information," she said.
Two of the men were taken by ambulance and the third by air, she said.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators were expected to arrive Monday morning at the crash site, about 185 miles southwest of Denver.
