OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - Three people are lucky to be alive after their small plane plunged into a body of water in Central Florida after taking off from Opa-Locka, and they were rescued.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a Cirrus Vision SF50 — with a parachute on its back end — crashed as it was approaching Kissimmee Gateway Airport, Friday afternoon.
“Small plane was equipped with a small chute system to decelerate it,” said Andrew Sullivan, of Osceola County Fire Rescue and EMS. “A small portion of that was draped across power lines, which made access very complicated.”
Flight Radar 24 showed the single-engine plane taking off from Opa-Locka Executive Airport and making the northwestern journey before it went down.
A closer look shows the plane on the eastern side of Lake Toho.
“Very marshy conditions,” said Sullivan, “and as our crews arrived, it was at the tail end of a thunderstorm, so we had a torrential downpour and threat of lightning.”
Once in the woods, fire rescue said, two of those on board, including a juvenile, were OK. One even walked away from the crash.
A third person, a woman, was taken away with serious injuries but is in stable condition.
“We had to access getting through a barbed wire fence,” said Sullivan, “wading through water and using a chainsaw to cut through underbrush to get through the plane.”
Fire crews helped everyone out of the swampy area, and all are expected to be OK.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
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