A plane with 5 passengers onboard crashed at Naples Florida. The severe crash claimed the lives of two people. This was at the Pine Ridge Road exit of Collier County, north of where the highway heads east to Fort Lauderdale on Alligator Alley on Friday’s afternoon. The plane hit a car which made it explode in smoke. Only 3 people out of the 5 occupants survived the crash.
Officials’ Response To The Incident
The plane, a Bombardier Challenger 600 series jet, crashed on the highway around 3:pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. It was not immediately known whether any were injured on the ground.
Initial reports said that the pilot of the aircraft had radioed that he had a dual engine failure as the plane was approaching Naples Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement on Friday. The agency stated that it would not speak on the cause of the crash during the early stages of its investigation.
The plane was a private jet operated by Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Charte, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to aircraft tracker FlightAware, Hop-A-Jet reportedly did not answer an email and phone message from USA TODAY asking for a comment.
Hop-A-Jet issued a statement late Friday saying it had received “confirmed reports of an accident involving one of our leased aircraft near Naples” and would dispatch a team to the crash site according to the Naples Daily News.
The first thing we care about is the welfare of our passengers, our crew members, and their family members.
The plane was flying from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, to the Naples, Florida airport and was scheduled to travel to Fort Lauderdale, said Robin King, the director of communication with the Naples Airport Authority. She said the airport lost touch with the plane just before it crashed around 3:10:00 p.m. It left Ohio at 12:30 p.m.
“It was coming in for a landing,” King stated. We heard that it had maybe lost an engine … Then we lost the signal.
Collier County Sheriff Adam Fisher’s spokesperson confirmed two deaths, although he couldn’t say right away whether the victims were on the plane or the ground.
The aircraft was operated by Hop-a-Jet Worldwide Charter based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as per the FlightAware aircraft tracker. The plane was supposed to fly back to Fort Lauderdale on Friday afternoon. It seems that several netizens have uploaded videos of the crash on various platforms, and people are expressing their shock and disbelief. Many are questioning how this tragic incident could have happened, especially since the plane was supposed to be thoroughly checked before embarking on the trip.
It’s certainly a concerning situation, and we can only hope that officials can get to the bottom of it soon.
Netizen’s Reactions To The Plane Crash
Benjamin Way, an X user, said “Oh my goodness.
You don’t see that everyday. I saw somewhere it’s a bombardier series, 14 people on board.
I haven’t heard of survivors yet.”
Another netizen said, “Amazingly calm voice and professionalism from the pilot in his interaction with ATC declaring the emergency. It’s too bad he couldn’t have landed due south on the grass but he was able to save the 3 passengers. Lots of homes on either side of I75…could have been much worse”.
It’s saddening that two people lost their lives due to this incident.
