A missing airplane over Florida was found to have crashed in a rural, wooded area overnight in Flagler County, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. The pilot, the only person aboard the plane, is presumed dead due to the impact and debris field, the sheriff said.
The 10-seat Cessna 208 plane departed Sebastian Airport around 5 p.m. Friday en route to Palatka Airport, said Sheriff Staly. Around 7:30 p.m. air traffic control lost contact with the plane and attempted to reach the pilot.
Radar showed lost contact around 900 feet and showed that the plane was “descending rapidly,” Sheriff Staly said.
Between midnight and 1 a.m., a Volusia Sheriff’s Office helicopter crew located the plane wreckage and assisted deputies on the ground in finding it.
“Worst conditions you could imagine to find an aircraft,” said Sheriff Staly, noting that it was pitch black with heavy cloud cover. He said deputies smelled fuel, which helped teams work together to keep the search to a specific area.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Sheriff Staly said based on the debris field alone, there wasn’t much “gliding” that the plane performed it appeared. He said it appeared the plane hit the ground nearly straight down.
The FAA and NTSB will both investigate the cause of the crash, which could take several weeks and months.
In a statement, Rook Nelson, president of EagleAir Transport, an Illinois-based aerospace company, confirmed that one of its planes was involved in the crash.
“We became aware around 8 pm last night that there was an incident involving one of our aircraft. Around 6 pm an experienced pilot departed Sebastian, FL enroute to Palatka. The aircraft did not make it to its destination for unknown reasons. We have very little information beyond this and are working with local and federal authorities in the ongoing investigation,” he said in a statement.
Nelson told FOX 35 in an email that the plane was on a “repositioning” flight up to Palatka and that the pilot was the only person onboard.
Sheriff Staly said these planes are typically used for skydiving – and that, based on info he had, this plane was going to be used for skydiving flights next week.
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