FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A fourth body was located in the Everglades Wednesday morning, killed after two planes collided Tuesday afternoon in the sky over the Everglades. Three other people also died in the crash in western Miami-Dade County.
Rescue crews located the fourth body, Miami-Dade police said.
After Tuesday's search was halted by darkness, what police called a recovery mission by multiple agencies began about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday
Confirmed dead after the crash were Jorge A. Sanchez, 22; Ralph Knight, 72; and Nisha Sejwal, 19.
Police did not release the hometowns of the victims or their roles during the flights.
The planes _ a Piper PA-34 and a Cessna 172 _ crashed in a remote region accessible only by air boat or helicopter. It was reported to 911 around 1 p.m. A large debris field was found near mile marker 23 on the Tamiami Trail/Southwest 8th Street at 227th Avenue, about nine miles west of Miami Executive Airport.
Preliminary information was that those who died had been taking flight lessons and that there were two people inside each plane, Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said.
"Which leads us to believe that you had a pilot and a trainer or a trainer and a student, and in another plane, a trainer and a student," Zabaleta said. "That's why we're thinking perhaps there is a fourth person."
Though authorities have not said who owns the planes, the fuselage of one is labeled "Dean International" and www.flymiami.com.
That 35-year-old company has had 21 incidents in the past 20 years, including three fatal crashes, the NTSB said.
Robert Dean, owner of the flight school whose website says it has taught 7,000 students from around the world, did not return messages.
Calls to the school Tuesday were disconnected by whoever answered the phone.
In releasing the school's history, the NTSB stressed that "we are not able to verify for certain that the operator is the same entity."
Incidents from the past two years, described in NTSB accident reports:
_ June 29, 2017: During his first solo flight, a student pilot of a Cessna 152 registered to Rico Aviation Services and operated by Dean International had a hard landing and landing gear collapse on a runway at Miami Executive Airport that left the aircraft with "substantial damage." The student survived, a final report said.
_ July 1, 2017: A private pilot died during a nighttime flight that took off from Miami Executive Airport. A Cessna 152 registered to Air Christian, Inc. and operated by Dean International, Inc. crashed in Everglades National Park in Homestead. Dean International reported the pilot missing on July 5, and the wreckage was found that night, a preliminary report said.
_ July 13, 2017: An instructor was not hurt and a private pilot being trained had minor injuries when their Cessna 172M had engine failure and made a forced, late night landing on Crandon Boulevard on Key Biscayne. Their flight began at Miami Executive Airport. The Cessna was registered to C&G Aircraft Parts, Inc. and operated by Dean International, Inc. The plane struck tree branches and a light pole, a preliminary report said.
_ May 3, 2018: A private pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were seriously injured after a Cessna 152 heading toward Miami Executive Airport crashed 24 miles west of Tamiami. During a night flight, the pilots lost control of the plane after flying into "instrument meteorological conditions" and while in clouds, entered into two spins and recovered from both before crashing, a preliminary report said.
Responders Tuesday included Miccosukee police, Florida Highway Patrol, rangers from Everglades National Park, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission; private air boat operators and the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board as well as Miami-Dade firefighters and police, and some of them participated in the recovery of the fourth body on Wednesday.
The NTSB will determine what may have caused the crash.
The debris field is west of Krome Avenue, about five miles west of the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming. It is a popular region for aviation students to train.
