WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A small plane crashed in the southern US state of Texas Saturday morning, killing the two people on board.

    According to reports from US TV network CNN, the twin-engine Cessna Citation 3 plane had been waiting on the runway to take off from the Hobby Airport, Houston, to another Texan city of Corpus Christi, when an incoming jetliner issued an alert.

    Air traffic controllers asked the Cessna to take off quickly while diverting the jetliner to another airport in Houston.

    Then the Cessna made an emergency take-off but crashed soon after that.

    Witnesses said it plunged nose first, tumbled over and skidded nearly 500 meters in the middle of the runway, killing two people on board instantly.

    The incident prompted the airport to close for an hour.

    Investigators are probing into the crash while reasons of the incident and identities of the dead are still unknown. Enditem