3 Killed in Plane Crash in Florida as Victims Remain Unidentified
A small plane crash in central Florida has left three people dead and many more unanswered questions.
The Cessna 310 aircraft went down Thursday afternoon and emergency responders located the wreckage about 20 miles west of Vero Beach on Friday morning after the plane was reported missing.
When emergency responders arrived at the crash site they discovered three casualties, but their identities have yet to be made public.
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The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the pilot had dropped communication with an aviation control tower in Miami around 4:35 p.m. on Thursday.
To complicate recovery efforts the aircraft went down within the Fort Drum Conservation Area, and access to the marshy swamp area was severely limited to boats and helicopters.
The aircraft was undetectable with radar shortly after taking off from Okeechobee Airport en route to Bartow and went down roughly 15 miles from Fort Pierce, according to a statement provided by the FAA.
Teams of local and federal authorities worked in unison to search the crash site for clues to determine how the accident occurred, as well as to figure out how to best remove the debris located in the western section of Indian River County once the investigation is complete.
Indian River County Fire Rescue officers worked closely with the National Transportation Safety Board to set up operations to facilitate the ongoing investigation.
There is no word yet as to any preliminary findings regarding the cause of the crash, but investigators said it did not look as if any criminal activity had been suspected thus far.
The remote location of the crash required the assistance of the United States Coast Guard, which used a helicopter to ferry medical personal and investigators to the crash site in order to remove the bodies.
Indian River County's Assistant Fire Chief Brian Burkeen stated that the crash site was still an active investigation scene and that a press conference was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
