PLEASANT HILL, Calif. -- A small Piper Cherokee plane crashed into a car on Interstate 680 on Tuesday, injuring five people.

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Video On Demand: 680 Plane Crash Leaves Three Injured

The plane departed from Concord's Buchanan Air Field at 4:50 p.m. and crashed shortly after takeoff, Federal Aviation Administration operations office Bruce Nelson said.

The plane was destroyed in the crash and firefighters from the Contra Costa County Fire Department quickly put out a small blaze on the highway.

"Two things surprise me,'' CHP spokesman Cliff Kroeger said as the remains of the plane were being removed from the freeway. "One, the fact that the airplane came down and had such severe damage and the people inside were unhurt. The other is that at 10 before five, with extremely high commute traffic, that only one vehicle was involved.''

Kroeger said that after completing repairs to the engine of the plane, the pilot left Buchanan Air Field.

"As he was taking off, he experienced a failure with the engine again. It died as he was just completing his takeoff,'' Kroeger said. "He started looking for someplace to get down in a hurry, and came down on the freeway.''

The pilot and his son were not injured in the crash, although five passengers in a van hit by the plane were hurt. Four adults were treated for minor injuries, while an 11-year-old girl was taken to Children's Hospital in Oakland where she underwent surgery on her leg.

A nursing supervisor said she was in serious but stable condition Tuesday night.

The accident caused major delays in the rush-hour commute.

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