PAHOKEE, Fla. _ Five people were killed in a plane crash that occurred Friday afternoon just north of the Palm Beach County Glades Airport, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office reported.
Sheriff's marine unit deputies and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue crews recovered the deceased people from the aircraft's fuselage, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.
According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, a twin-engine Piper aircraft was on approach to the Pahokee Airport at about 3:30 p.m. when the aircraft went down in Lake Okeechobee. The aircraft departed from Tampa International Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board described the aircraft as Piper PA-23-250.
The agency did not release any other details.
Authorities did not release the names of the victims as they were attempting to notify families Friday night.
A spokesperson for the FAA said the agency would conduct an initial investigation, but the final investigation would be completed by the NTSB. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue divers searched Friday afternoon for at least one person after the crash, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
According to initial reports, the person was observed swimming away from the airplane. A sheriff's spokeswoman said did not have any other information about that person and could not confirm whether that person had any connection to the downed aircraft.
The sheriff's office said the plane went into the lake about 400 yards from shore. A PBSO helicopter aided in the search.
It is the third fatal incident involving a small plane traveling to or from Palm Beach County since February. On Tuesday, a student pilot was killed in Indian River County, shortly after taking from the Vero Beach Regional Airport in a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. That plane was also bound for the Palm Beach County Glades Airport, according to multiple published reports.
On Feb 1, a Piper PA 32 piloted by longtime Palm Beach County veterinarian Ken Simmons disappeared in rainy weather condition, about 20 miles off the coast of Palm Beach. The plane was traveling to the Bahamas after departing that afternoon from the Lantana airport.
Simmons, 62, his wife, Alice McCormick Simmons, 59, and their golden retrievers, Bailey and Lily, are presumed to have been killed in the crash.
