3 People Survive Plane Crash Near Fresno Airport

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a small plane crashed as it was preparing to land in Fresno, but all three people aboard escaped serious injury.

Tony Botti of the Fresno County Sheriff's office says the Cessna 172 was en route Saturday evening from San Luis Obispo County to Fresno when a power failure occurred as the pilot approached an airport in Fresno.

Botti says the pilot tried to land on a roadway but ended up clipping some power lines and going down.

Photos of the scene show a largely intact aircraft with its nose stuck into a grassy slope.

He says that the two men and one woman aboard safely made their way out of the aircraft.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. Botti says in a news release that federal authorities will investigate.