UPDATE: The owner of the plane that crashed in Gainesville early this morning says the pilot was bringing a man to Gainesville for a kidney transplant.  Robert Valle, Director of Operations for Air Key West, also says the other passenger was the man's wife. 

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The Federal Aviation Administration says three people were killed when their twin-engine plane crashed near the Gainesville airport.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the crash occurred about 2:45 a.m. Friday when the plane was cleared for an instrument landing at the airport and visibility was limited.

The wreckage of the plane was found short of the runway at about
7:40 a.m.

The victims' identities weren't immediately known. The aircraft was a Parntenavia P.68C, registered to Robert Valle of St. Croix. The FAA says the plane was flying in from Key West. A man who answered the phone at Air Key West, a charter company whose Web site lists Valle as director of operations, declined to comment
Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will investigate the crash.

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