An Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul, South Korea, has crashed while landing at San Francisco airport, US federal aviation officials have said.
According to the Reuters news agency there were two fatalities in the crash, as well as an unknown number of injuries.
Al Jazeera's Matt McFetridge, reporting from San Francisco, said that local radio was also reporting the fatalities.
"We've got reports of at least 16 passengers at two very good hospitals in San Francisco," our correspondent said.
"We have not heard official confirmation of the two fatalities.
"What we do have is a lot of eye witness reports, all of which say that that plane hit the tarmac and just broke apart."
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said on Saturday it was flight number 214, and it was unclear how many people were on board.
The Boeing 777 was supposed to land on runway 28 left at the San Francisco International Airport, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. Brown said the crash occurred at 11:26 PDT (18:26 GMT).
She said the sequence of events was still unclear, but it appeared the plane landed and then crashed.
The National Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a team of investigators headed by its Chairman Deborah Hersman to San Francisco to probe the crash.
Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, said that investigators were already on their way to the airport and that all flights have been suspended.
Images from television station KTVU in San Francisco showed extensive fire damage to the aeroplane, which had lost its tail in the crash.
Debris strewn
Fire engines were on scene and the fire, which had burned through the cabin's roof, appeared to be out.
A video clip posted to YouTube shows smoke coming from a silver jet on the tarmac and passengers could be seen jumping down the inflatable emergency slides.
Television footage showed debris strewn about the tarmac and pieces of the plane lying on the runway.
In a statement, Asiana Airlines said there were 291 passengers on board and 16 crew members.
Among the passengers were 77 Koreans, 141 Chinese, 61 Americans and one Japanese.
The airline said it was working with relevant departments and agencies investigating the cause of the crash and that it would set up an accident response centre.
The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more.
Asiana is a South Korean airline, second in size to national carrier Korean Air. It has recently tried to expand its presence in the US, and joined the oneWorld alliance, anchored by American Airlines and British Airways.
