CREEDE, Colo. (AP) — A small plane that might have had mechanical problems crashed in a remote area of southern Colorado, killing three people, authorities said. The pilot Jere Ferrill, 51, was a Natchez native who lived in Castle Rock, Colo.

The Cessna 320, owned by an aerial photography company, went down Wednesday less than a mile from a single-runway airport near the historic mining town of Creede near the Rio Grande River. The town is surrounded by a national forest.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Mineral County coroner Charles Downing said a witness reported the plane sounded like it was having engine trouble.

“It looked like he was trying to go to the airport but the plane wouldn’t stay up that long,” Downing said.

He identified the victims as Ferrill, 17-year-old David Louwers of Longmont, Colo., and Mykhayl Sutton, whose age was not immediately available.

Rocky Mountain Aerial Surveys of Longmont confirmed that it owned the plane but didn’t immediately comment on the crash. Its website says it provides aerial photography and remote sensing and has been in business since 1973.