GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A small airplane crashed near the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport on Monday morning.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said that the King Air twin-engine airplane with tail number N337MT was practicing approaches when it crashed just shy of the runway. Witnesses said that the plane hit a guardrail on one side of Highway 14, bounced over a second guardrail and landed on its belly in a grassy area just short of the runway.

Witnesses also said it appears one of the engines was badly damaged in the crash.

Traffic on Highway 14 was being rerouted while emergency workers are at the scene. Officials said that the highway, which was closed form Highway 80 to Interstate 85, was reopened at about 12:30 p.m.

According to officials, three people were taken to the hospital for injuries suffered in the crash.

Stevens' Aviation told FOX Carolina News that the two passengers, Ed Wilk and Derrick Holliday, were employees with the company. Wilk was listed in fair condition and Holliday was listed in serious but stable condition.

Kent Ewing, president of The Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program, identified the pilot as Mado MacDonald. According to Ewing, MacDonald has been a flight instructor with the company for 10 years and lives in Virginia Beach, Va.

"The plane arrived from Virginia last night and was on a routine test flight before being inducted for maintenance work at Stevens' facility at the GSP Airport," the company said in a statement. "At this time we do not know why the plane crashed."

Airport officials said that the airport was closed for about a half-hour while emergency crews were at the scene.

The airplane is registered to MDTR Holdings in Virginia Beach, Va., officials said.

Officials from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the cause of the crash.

Stay with FOX Carolina and foxcarolina.com for the latest on this developing story.