BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — Search crews have found a small plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Palm Beach County, the United States Coast Guard said Monday.
The agency tweeted that a Piper 28 aircraft was found near Boynton Beach Inlet and divers are searching for the lone 24-year-old man who was aboard.
Officials said the man did not survive the crash.
Petty Officer Jose Hernandez told news outlets that the agency received a call around 8 p.m. Sunday regarding the Piper PA-28 Cherokee plane.
“The person who called in the report said the plane was sinking,” Petty Officer Jose Hernandez, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast office in Miami told news outlets.
The plane was flying from Palm Beach County Park Airport to Merritt Island Airport, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north, officials said.
A witness said he was fishing off the north pier when he saw the plane go down.
“When we looked up, we thought it was a drone or something and then all the sudden we heard a loud, ‘boom’ and we saw the plane nosedive into the water,” he said.
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