NATCHEZ &045; Mangled instruments hung from the crumpled nose of a single-engine plane where it lay in the tall grass Saturday.

The 1962 model Mooney M20 crashed nose-first just off the runway at the Natchez-Adams Airport, and emergency personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to reach the victims inside, Adams County Sheriff Ronny Brown said. Three people were killed, including the pilot, and one person was injured.

Later, a tote bag and what looked like colorful pillows and beach towels littered the wreckage.

&uot;Most of damage was to the front of plane,&uot; Adams County Coroner James Lee, who arrived on the scene shortly after the crash, said. &uot;The passenger compartment of the plane was completely destroyed.&uot;

The left wing was crumpled where it hit the ground. In the rear of the plane, the frame was bent.

The propeller was lying in the grass a few feet from the plane.

Investigators from the Adams County Sheriff’s Department roped off the area where the plane hit, in a grassy area off runway 31, from which the plane took off.

Because workers had to peel part of the plane away to reach the victims, it was not clear what was damage from the crash and what was opened by the Jaws of Life.

Inside the aircraft, it appeared the space behind the rear seats was loaded with luggage and other cargo.

FAA officials began arriving Saturday afternoon to examine the site and begin the process of reconstructing the events that happened.