DETROIT (AP) - Authorities say two people have died and a third was injured when a small plane crashed in Detroit while heading to the city's municipal airport.

Detroit police Capt. Mark Thornton told reporters the single-engine plane en route to Coleman A. Young International Airport apparently struck a power line and tree Sunday night. He says it burned in a vacant lot.

Thornton says "courageous citizens" rescued the survivor. Thornton says a man and a woman died while the survivor was in critical condition. No one on the ground was injured.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says preliminary information indicates the pilot reported a landing gear problem and low fuel to air traffic controllers shortly before the crash.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.