A small plane crashed today morning into a residential neighbourhood in Palo Alto, California, killing three people on board and setting a house on fire, dpa cited media reports as saying. It was not clear if people on the ground were injured, CNN reported. Eyewitnesses said the Cessna 310 scraped an electric wire shortly before the crash, which they said caused the ground to shake. The San Jose Mercury News reported that the plane had just taken off from the airport in Palo Alto, which is known worldwide for its telescope and community of astronomers. Palo Alto is some 55 kilometres south of San Francisco.