A small aircraft, en route to deliver relief supplies to hurricane-stricken Jamaica, crashed into a residential pond in Coral Springs, Florida, early Monday, resulting in two fatalities, local authorities confirmed. The Coral Springs Police Department reported the tragic loss of two lives in the crash.
The aircraft, a turboprop plane, was observed on surveillance footage from a nearby home, plunging into a pond in Coral Springs, a suburb close to Fort Lauderdale. The video shows the plane’s nose hitting the water after seemingly grazing the edge of the land.
The wreckage of the ill-fated plane, including a wheel, was visible shortly after the crash. Emergency personnel from Coral Springs and Coconut Creek were promptly on the scene in the Windsor Bay community.
Fire officials reported that no victims were discovered during the initial rescue efforts, and the operation has since shifted to a recovery mission. The exact number of passengers on the plane, which was transporting aid to Jamaica following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa two weeks prior, remains unknown.
“There was no actual plane to be seen. 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,” said Deputy Chief Mike Moser of the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department. Moser also noted that no homes were damaged and much of the debris was scattered around the retention pond.
A representative for the City of Fort Lauderdale stated that the plane departed from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport around 10:14 a.m. Authorities responded to reports of the crash in Coral Springs just five minutes later.
The plane, a Beechcraft King Air model, typically accommodates seven to 12 passengers, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The police will oversee recovery efforts while federal aviation officials investigate the cause of the crash, Moser said.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed it was investigating the crash. Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, nearly decimated Jamaica in late October, causing widespread power outages and overwhelming the island’s infrastructure. Many of the country’s 14 parishes reported severe flooding.
In the immediate aftermath, Jamaican officials were unable to estimate the death toll from the “storm of the century.” However, they have since tentatively confirmed 32 deaths related to the hurricane, with some still under investigation.
Broward County in Florida, where the plane took off, is home to a vibrant Caribbean American community that has been instrumental in relief and recovery efforts. This crash follows last week’s UPS plane crash in Kentucky, which claimed the lives of three pilots and 11 others on the ground, including a 3-year-old girl and her grandfather.