Roads Remain Closed While NTSB Investigates Plane Crash That Killed 3 In Tennessee

Multiple roads in Franklin, Tennessee , remained closed on Thursday morning amid an investigation into a small plane crash Wednesday that killed all three people on board, authorities said.

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said Thursday morning that parts of Davis Hollow Road and Bending Chestnut Road, where they meet Natchez Trace Road, remain closed while the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation into the deadly crash . Franklin is a suburb just south of Nashville .

According to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration, a single-engine Beechcraft V35 crashed "under unknown circumstances" at around noon on Wednesday, killing the pilot and two passengers on board. The plane had departed Baton Rouge, La. , and was en route to Kentucky when it crashed.

First responders arrived to find a "rather large debris field," Williamson County Sheriff Mark Elrod said during a press conference Wednesday evening. According to Williamson County Fire and Rescue Chief Bob Galoppi, the debris field was around a half-mile long.

"It was quickly evident that this would be a search-and-recovery operation, not a search-and-rescue operation ," Elrod said, adding that responders were "unsure where the crash started or where it ended."

"It does appear that the plane did break up in the air, unsure what caused that," Elrod said.

The names of the victims were not immediately disclosed.

—TMX contributed to this report.