EAST HAVEN, Conn. — A small plane crashed in a working-class neighborhood near an airport today and engulfed two houses in flames, leaving the pilot and two children on the ground missing and feared dead.

The multiengine, propeller-driven plane struck two small homes a few blocks from Tweed New Haven Airport, and firefighters found both homes engulfed in flames when they arrived.

The missing include the one person on the plane and two children in one of the houses, ages 1 and 13, East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo said.

“We haven't recovered anybody at this point and we presume there is going to be a very bad outcome,” East Haven Fire Chief Douglas Jackson said.

The plane, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B, flew out of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and crashed at 11:25 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Tweed's airport manager, Lori Hoffman-Soares, said the pilot had been in communication with air traffic control and did not issue any distress calls.