At least 5 people killed in Mexican navy small plane crash near Galveston, Texas
A small Mexican navy plane on a medical mission crashed Monday near Galveston, Texas, killing at least five people, including a 2-year-old, officials said.
Two people were taken to the hospital, the U.S. Coast Guard said earlier. There was no immediate word on their condition. One passenger, a 27-year-old, was uninjured, the Coast Guard said. It was unclear if that person was one of the two who had been taken to the hospital. One person was still missing as of Monday night, the Mexican navy said.
The Mexican navy said the plane had been carrying eight people: four navy officers and four civilians.
Mexico's navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which the nonprofit's website says provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children's hospital in Galveston.
The foundation said in a post on social media, "We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns."
The crash took place Monday around 3:17 p.m. local time near the base of a causeway near Galveston, along the Texas coast about 50 miles southeast of Houston.
Mexico's navy said in a statement that the plane was helping with a medical mission and had an accident. It promised to investigate the cause of the crash.
The navy was helping local authorities with the search and rescue operation, it said in a post on X.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
"I couldn't believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in," he said. "And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life."
He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothesTeams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.
A spokesperson from NTSB said they are "aware of this accident and are gathering information about it." The Galveston County Sheriff's Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
It wasn't immediately clear if weather was a factor. However, the area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday, a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility. The foggy conditions were expected to persist through Tuesday morning.