Two people were killed Monday morning when a small plane flying hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica crashed in a Florida neighborhood.
The plane crashed into a pond in Coral Springs around 10:19 a.m. minutes after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. City officials confirmed later in the morning that the Beechcraft King Air B-100 was headed to Montego Bay on a Hurricane Melissa relief mission and had been scheduled to land around 12:30 p.m., according to FlightAware.
The identities of the two victims were not released.
“There will be a significant police presence in the area…throughout the remainder of the day and tomorrow as investigators work to collect evidence,” Coral Springs Police said in a statement.
Before the deaths were announced, a fire official said Monday afternoon that it was unknown how many people were aboard the aircraft, but the search had become a recovery effort after no survivors were found. The plane has 11 seats.
Video released Monday afternoon shows the plane’s impact and a wall of water and debris shooting into the air. Another angle appears to show the plane tilted to its right, going into the water sideways.
“There was no actual plane to be seen,” Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Moser said. “They followed the debris trail to the water. We had divers that entered the water and tried to search for any victims and didn’t find any.”
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on social media that it’s investigating the incident, as is the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s unclear what led to the crash, but the National Weather Service Miami said gusty winds had been expected in the morning.
No one on the ground was hurt, and no homes were damaged in the crash.
Aerial footage of the scene appeared to show damaged trees and fencing, suggesting a path the plane took into the small body of water. A wheel was visible near a downed tree.
Initial 911 callers told dispatchers a plane was flying low over the area.
One witness, David Ubegi, told NBC 6 South Florida that he “heard a big explosion” and then “saw all the parts of the plane and some body parts.”
“When the police arrived we helped them look for the body parts,” he said.
Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica as a Category 5 storm last month, tied as the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricane in history and causing massive destruction and dozens of deaths. The storm also caused significant damage in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.