A private plane owned by an executive with Tesla Motors crashed on the morning of Wednesday, February 17, 2010 near Palo Alto, California killing all three people on board.

The identities of the occupants has not yet been disclosed, but the plane was owned by a senior electrical engineer with the company, Doug Bourn. It is not known, however, if Bourn was on the plane.

The plane, a twin-engine Cessna 310, was bound for Hawthorne Airport, a facility near Los Angeles, and crashed shortly after take-off at approximately 8 a.m. PDT. It struck a group of houses located about a mile northeast of the airport.

At the time of the crash, the weather was foggy, but the FAA has not determined if that was a factor in the accident. Investigators are on the scene with more officials from the NTSB expected to arrive on the scene during the afternoon.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, issued a statement via the company's website. "Three Tesla employees were on board a plane that crashed in East Palo Alto early this morning. We are withholding their identities as we work with the relevant authorities to notify the families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Tesla is a small, tightly-knit company, and this is a tragic day for us."