The wreckage of a private jet lies on the runway after it crashed and burned as it landed at the?Aspen Airport in Colorado, Jan 5, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

DENVER -- A small plane crashed at the Aspen Airport in the western US state of Colorado Sunday afternoon, killing one of the three people aboard and injuring the other two, according to local media reports.

The crash occurred when the plane was attempting to land at the airport, also known as the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.

The plane rocked back and forth after crashing to land and exploded into flames, witnesses said.

Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene within minutes of the accident.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration, the national aviation authority of the United States, said the airplane was a Bombardier Challenger 600, which came from Tucson, Arizona, to Aspen, a ski resort city about 160 kilometers southwest of Denver, the capital of Colorado.