A business jet with six people aboard crashed on Thursday at a regional airport in North Carolina used by Nascar teams and Fortune 500 companies, erupting in a large fire and killing multiple people, authorities said.

Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle.

There were six people on the Cessna C550 that crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, about 72km (45 miles) north of Charlotte, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

“I can confirm there were fatalities,” Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said.

Golfers playing next to the airport were shocked as they witnessed the disaster, even dropping to the ground at the Lakewood Golf Club while the plane was overhead. The ninth hole was covered with debris.

“We were like, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s way too low,’” said Joshua Green of Mooresville. “It was scary.”