HOUSTON (AP) -- A private jet that was en route to Houston to pick up former President Bush clipped a light pole and crashed Monday as it approached Hobby Airport in thick fog, killing all three people aboard.

The Gulfstream G-1159A jet went down about 6:15 a.m. in an undeveloped area 1 1/2 miles south of the airport, officials said.

Bush, who lives in Houston, was scheduled to travel to Ecuador to give a speech at a business conference, his spokesman Tom Frechette said. Frechette and a Secret Service agent were to accompany Bush.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the plane crash this morning," Bush said through Frechette. "I'd flown with this group before and know them well. I join in sending heartfelt condolences to each and every member of their families."

The names of the two pilots and a flight attendant were not immediately released. The plane belonged to Jet Place Inc. of Tulsa, Okla.

Mark Rosenker, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the "black box" flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered, and appeared to be in good enough shape to read the data. The devices were being shipped to the agency's offices in Washington D.C. for analysis, he said.

Rosenker said the NTSB's 15-person investigation team would examine "a number of factors," including the condition of the aircraft, what the pilots were doing, the weather and technical issues.

He said standard toxicology tests would be performed on the bodies and FBI agents joined the investigation at the NTSB's request, as is routine, he said.

"We are treating this at this moment as a transportation accident. We have no reason to believe it is anything other than that at this moment," Rosenker said.

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