Flames and smoke are seen coming out of windows at the location where a small plane crashed into a 50-story residential apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday. (Xinhua Photo)

Two people were killed when a small plane slammed into a high-rise apartment building in New York on Wednesday (Oct 11th), Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg told reporters that two pilots on board were killed, adding one of the them was a student pilot.

According to the mayor, no one was hurt in the building and the blaze was put out by firefighters in time.

The cause for the crash is still under investigation, said Bloomberg, noting that both Homeland Security Agency and New York Police Department believe the aviation disaster was only an accident, with no link to terrorism.

Editor: Donald