Seattle ? A weekend plane crash near Seattle killed two students from a special school for teenagers interested in careers in the aviation industry, school officials said.

A third person also died in the crash, authorities said. Officials did not release the names of the victims or say who was at the controls.

“Everyone affiliated with the high school is devastated by this and we are grieving with the families,” said Catherine Carbone-Rogers, spokeswoman for the Highline School District.

The two girls, both ninth-graders at Aviation High School, were participating in the Young Eagles program, which gives students their first light-aircraft flights with volunteer pilots from the Experimental Aircraft Assn., the Seattle Times reported Sunday.

The small, single-engine plane crashed Saturday morning near Paine Field airport, about 20 miles north of Seattle. Witnesses said the plane took off quickly after an apparent attempted landing, hit trees and crashed in flames.