Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity DJ AM were critically injured in a plane crash in the US that killed four people, authorities said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Learjet plane carrying six people was taking off in South Carolina on Friday night when air traffic controllers reported seeing sparks. The plane headed for Van Nuys, California, went off a runway, through a fence and crashed on a nearby road, officials said.

Barker and DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, were in critical condition at a burn centre in Augusta, Georgia, about 75 miles south-west of Columbia, hospital spokeswoman Beth Frits said. Two other passengers and two crew members died, said the National Transportation Safety Board. Their identities were not immediately available.

At the crash site on Saturday, the air was still heavy with the odour of jet fuel. A trail of black soot led off a runway, across a five-lane road next to the airport and up an embankment. The nose of the aircraft was gone and the roof was missing from two-thirds of the charred plane.

Hope he pulls through this, great drummer of a great band!