A 2-year-old child was among at least five people killed when a Mexican Navy aircraft carrying medical patients crashed into Galveston Bay while attempting to land, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
The small twin-engine turboprop plane went down on Monday just west of the Galveston Causeway at about 3:15 p.m. as it approached Scholes International Airport, according to the Coast Guard and Galveston County officials.
Eight people were on board: four Mexican Navy crew members and four civilians.
Two people were rescued alive and hospitalized in undisclosed conditions, while one person remained missing and was presumed dead Monday night. The Coast Guard said a call reporting the crash was received around 3:17 p.m.
Galveston County Sheriff Jimmy Fullen said the aircraft had been transporting a burn patient.
Mexico’s Navy said the flight was part of a medical mission coordinated with the Michou and Mau Foundation, a nonprofit that helps transport children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children’s Hospital in Galveston.
In an update released Monday night, the Mexican Navy identified the deceased as Navy personnel Lieutenant Junior Grade Víctor Rafael Pérez Hernández, Lieutenant Junior Grade Juan Iván Zaragoza Flores, and Seaman Guadalupe Flores Barranco, along with civilian patient Federico Efraín Ramírez Cruz and Dr. Juan Alfonso Adame González. Lieutenant Junio Grade Luis Enrique Castillo Terrones was listed as missing and presumed deceased.
The survivors were identified as Julia Aracelis Cruz Vera, a patient companion, and Nurse Miriam de Jesús Rosas Mancilla.
Sky Decker, who lives near the crash site, told CNN he entered the water to help rescue a woman trapped inside the wreckage before dive teams arrived.
“Everyone was just waiting for divers to arrive. And I thought if there’s a woman alive in that plane, she’s not going to be alive for long,” Decker said. “It was critical to get her out of there.”
“The woman was surviving by breathing on a pocket of air that was only about 3 inches from the ceiling of the plane,” Decker said, adding that he later reentered the wreckage and recovered a man who had already died.
Radio transmissions from first responders captured the urgency of the rescue, including requests for tools to cut into the aircraft and reports of CPR being performed. One responder reported the rescued woman had a compound fracture to her right leg.
Authorities said visibility was poor at the time of the crash. Billy Howell, who works at Galveston Bait and Tackle, told KTRK that there was “literally zero visibility,” noting that dense sea fog can quickly form near the island.
“As the sea fog goes and the wind blows and changes directions, the fog does get a lot more dense,” Howell said.
The aircraft departed from Mérida, the capital of Mexico’s Yucatán state, according to flight tracking data. Mexico’s Navy said the plane experienced an “incident” during its approach but did not provide details.
Dive teams, a crime scene unit, drones, and patrol boats worked at the scene into Monday night, authorities said. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were assisting with the investigation. An NTSB spokesperson said the agency was “aware of this accident and are gathering information about it,” the Associated Press reported.
Mexico’s Navy said it was coordinating with the Mexican Consulate in Houston and extended “its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”
The Michou and Mau Foundation also expressed sympathy, saying in a statement, “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.”
Shriners Children’s Texas confirmed that a pediatric burn patient was being transported to Galveston, but said the hospital had not admitted the child and deferred further inquiries to the Mexican Navy.
Officials asked the public to avoid the area as recovery and investigative efforts continued.
