VIENNA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed when their small aircraft crashed Sunday evening in a southern Austrian forest.

    The cause of the accident is still unknown, said an official from the state of Styria. The plane came down near the state's capital city of Graz.

    He said the weather was fine with good visibility at the time of the crash and the technical condition of the plane was also quite good, as preliminary investigations of the plane's wreckage had found no malfunction.

    The PA 34 aircraft crashed into a forest south of Graz and exploded, killing all three on board.

    The plane was being flown by a 57-year-old entrepreneur, who was accompanied by his daughter, 32, and a friend, 39.

    Witnesses said that the plane plummeted from the sky at high speed, and had tried to pull up before crashing.

    This is the second crash in the last two weeks in Austria.

    On the evening of Oct. 21, a small aircraft crashed onto the top of the Austrian Cobra Special Force's headquarters near the town of Wiener Neustadt, killing both pilots on board.