Small plane from Florida Keys crashes in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- A man who rented a small plane in the Florida Keys saying he wanted to fly around the airport went instead to Cuba, where the plane crash-landed in Havana.

The pilot was taken away in an ambulance after the plane landed upside down in a field in Havana del Este, a waterfront neighborhood near downtown. The plane flipped over after apparently bouncing on the rocky surface.

A resident who witnessed the accident told CNN the pilot said he ran out of fuel. Cuban police detained some international journalists from The Associated Press and Reuters who went to the scene to film the accident.

The plane took off from an airport in Marathon, Florida, in the Florida Keys. U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Mike Brock said the Navy tracked the plane as it moved south but lost contact with the aircraft when it got within two miles of Havana.

VIDEO Airplane flown by an American pilot crash lands near Havana, Cuba. Why he flew there is a mystery. CNN's Lucia Newman reports (August 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County sheriff's office, said a man rented the plane about 4:30 p.m., telling airport officials he wanted to fly around the Marathon airport.

A Pentagon spokesman said the Federal Aviation Administration requested a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion surveillance plane, conducting a routine mission off the Florida coast, to track the small plane. The surveillance plane located it, attempted to make contact and circled it at least twice.

The small plane did not respond, the Pentagon spokesman said. The official said the surveillance plane followed the small plane until it entered Cuban airspace.

The State Department has asked the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to look into the matter, and the Interests Section has been in contact with Cuban officials to seek further information, a State Department official said.

-- CNN Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman contributed to this report.