NEAR BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — Officials have located the body of a pilot involved in a plane crash near Boynton Beach.
The victim, a 24-year-old man, did not survive the crash of a Piper 28 aircraft near the Boynton Beach Inlet in the Atlantic Ocean after taking off from Lantana Airport, Sunday night.
#UPDATE It is reported that @PBCountySheriff divers recovered the 24-year-old male inside the down aircraft. #SAR
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) January 25, 2021
7 SkyForce HD flew over the ocean, where divers from the U.S. Coast Guard and Palm Beach Fire Rescue found the plane in about 40 feet of water, off the coast of Boynton Beach.
“Eagle One was the one that spotted the actual aircraft down, and that’s when Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office sent the divers to that location to start searching the air crash site,” said U.S. Coast Guard member Jose Hernandez.
The pilot had been headed to Merritt Island.
“We were fishing at the end of the North Pier, and we heard something coming out of the sky, like a muffle, and then when we looked up, we thought it was a drone or something, and then, all of a sudden, we heard a loud ‘BOOM!’ and we saw the plane nosedive into the water a few hundred yards off the actual pier,” said witness Jonathan Whitmire.
Whitmire called 911 immediately.
“The plane sank within probably two minutes of hitting the water,” he said.
The pilot was the sole person on board, and the plane was still intact.
“I came down here to do some fishing, and I found out the tragedy,” said fisherman Luis Labella.
It’s a tragedy that the pilot’s family is now dealing with.
“I’m more worried about the family who lost a loved one. Quite frankly, I want to call my parents right now and just say, ‘I love you,'” Whitmore said.
On Monday night, the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office identified the pilot as Abhishek Patter.
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