Three feared dead after light plane crashes into Tokyo residential area

A light plane has crashed into a residential area in Tokyo, setting fire to several houses and reportedly killing three people, according to officials and local media.

The five-seater plane crashed at around 11:00 am (midday AEST) shortly after it departed from Tokyo's Chofu airport, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Television footage showed firefighters battling the inferno, as well as the remains of the plane's tail.

"Four people were involved in the accident and three of them were rescued, but we don't know about further details, including their condition," a spokesman at the Tokyo Fire Department said, adding that it was also not clear how many people were aboard the plane.

NHK, quoting police, said two people on board and one female local resident were killed in the accident.

At least three houses and two cars were on fire in the capital's residential district of Chofu near the airport, and the crash also damaged the roofs of other houses nearby, according to the spokesman and local media.

"I thought it was flying quite low," a local resident who witnessed the crash told NHK.