PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico A small plane carrying government officials and television reporters crashed in northern Mexico on Friday, seriously injuring all five on board.

It was at least the fourth plane to crash this year with Mexican government officials on board.

The Cessna Centurion crashed just before reaching the airport in the industrial town of Ramos Arispe, said Coahuila state Civil Protection director Segismundo Doguin.

Coahuila water commission chief Rafael Reyes, his assistant, two TV Azteca reporters and the pilot were hospitalized in serious condition. They had been surveying water levels at regional dams.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Mexico has had a history of problems in the operation and maintenance of government aircraft.

In November, the interior minister and 15 others died when a jet plowed into a Mexico City neighborhood. A month earlier, a plane crash killed the Baja California state finance secretary. And in September, the US and
Mexican heads of the International Boundary and Water Commission were killed when a plane crashed near the border.

Earlier this month, a government Learjet plunged into a lake in central Mexico, killing two pilots.