Three people were killed and two critically injured when their light aircraft crashed into a house yesterday evening, causing several fires in a residential neighbourhood in southern California. 

"All of the victims are from the aircraft. No residents were involved on the ground. We're continuing to make sure we keep the fires down," said Riverside fire chief Michael Moore.

The fire spread to several houses in the evening. At least five families were forced to leave their homes.

The pilot and two passengers died. The two survivors, both women, were found inside the house in critical condition.

"They were ejected into the house and that's where the firefighters were able make an aggressive interior attack and extricate them from the house early on in the fire," Mr Moore said. 

The Cessna 310 crashed shortly after take-off from Riverside Municipal Airport, 60 miles east of Los Angeles. All of the passengers were from San Jose - in the area for a cheerleading event at Disneyland.

An FAA spokesman said the plane crashed "under unknown circumstances" and that the incident will be investigated by both the FAA and NTSB.