INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis oral surgeon died and three other people -- two relatives and an acquaintance -- were hospitalized after a small plane that the surgeon was piloting crashed into a retention pond on the city's west side Monday morning, officials said.

Dr. Robert Edesess was piloting the plane when it took off from Eagle Creek Airport, shortly before it crashed into a housing subdivision's pond near 21st Street and Raceway Road at about 10:40 a.m., officials said.

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Video: Raw Footage From Scene
Slideshow: Pilot Dies After Plane Crashes Into Pond

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The plane was equipped with a parachute that was deployed as the craft went down. The parachute slowed the craft and might have allowed the pilot to steer it into the pond and away from houses, investigators and witnesses said.

Bystanders went into the pond and pulled Edesess and three passengers out of the water, Wayne Township Fire Chief Konzen and witnesses said. Witnesses said something apparently had hit Edesess in the head and that he wasn't breathing when he was pulled from the pond.

Witnesses said someone resuscitated Edesess before he he was sent to Methodist Hospital. He died at Methodist, a hospital representative said.

Three passengers -- Edesess' wife, Poulfiri Edesess; his son, Jeremy Edesess; and Jeremy's girlfriend, Janet Adams -- also were taken to hospitals.

All three victims were in in serious condition at Methodist on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The four intended to fly to Hilton Head Island, S.C., Konzen said.

Bruce Kehoe, an Indianapolis attorney who owned the plane with Robert Edesess, said hospital personnel told him his friend had become incapacitated by a stroke or similar medical problem while flying the plane. On Monday evening, an official with the Marion County coroner's office called that speculation. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Federal investigators will probe the crash, 6News reported.

The crash came about 20 months after the Edesesses survived a tsunami while they were on an island boat tour in southeast Asia, 6News reported.

Witnesses Heard Noises Before Crash

Area residents said they heard popping noises from above before seeing the parachuting plane hit the water.

The plane was partially submerged in the retention pond, which is surrounded by homes. A large red and white parachute was in the water next to the plane.

The plane is a Cirrus aircraft, designed to use a parachute to slow the plane as a safety measure. The parachute is 55 feet in diameter.

Witnesses speculated that the pilot navigated the plane to land in the water and avoid homes.

"Kudos to that guy, because that's unfathomable. From the sky, that's not a very big target and he landed darn near in the middle of it," said Dave Day, who witnessed the crash. "If he had landed somewhere else, I don't think the outcome would've been as good."

Local pilot Randy Fisher also said he believed the parachute helped the pilot steer the plane away from homes.

"It allows the pilot to come down and choose his landing area," Fisher said of the parachute. "He's going to come down hard, but it's going to really slow his descent down."

According to the Cirrus manufacturer's Web site, 14 people have survived crashes involving that type of plane. In each instance, the craft's parachute was deployed.

Robert Edesess had just bought the plane, friends of the family told 6News. Federal records show the plane was made this year and was airworthy before the crash.