Five people were killed Monday when a small private plane crashed near a highway in Nashville in the US state of Tennessee, local police said.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a post on social platform X that "5 persons on board the airplane perished in the crash".

It also posted a picture of the mangled wreckage of the single-engine plane.

The Nashville Fire Department said on X that there was a "heavy fire" when its responders arrived on the scene.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron was quoted by US media as saying the plane had reported engine and power failure around 7:40 pm (0140 GMT Tuesday).

It was cleared for an emergency landing at Nashville's John C. Tune Airport, but came down just a few kilometres from the airport.

He said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.