Pilot killed in small plane crash at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport

ST. PETERSBURG -- One person is dead after a small plane crash at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.

The twin-engine Piper PA-30 crashed off the end of the main runway shortly before noon while the pilot was practicing take-offs and landings, the Federal Aviation Administration said. No one else was aboard the plane.

The plane is registered to Jet Aircraft Management out of Sarasota. The pilot did not declare an emergency before crashing, according to Thomas Jewsbury, airport director.

The main runway has been shut down for more than five hours, but is not affecting other flights at the airport.

"The aircraft came to rest outside of what's referred to as the runway safety area," Jewsbury said. "Which gives us the ability to go ahead and open up that runway once we go ahead and clear it from rescue vehicles."

The pilot, whose identity has not been released yet, was scheduled to fly the plane to California on Thursday.

More information will be added to this report as it becomes available.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Pilot killed in small plane crash at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport ."