Two bodies have been recovered and crews are searching for two more after a private jet with four people on board went down in the Atlantic Ocean one mile off the southern Florida coast.
A Mexican-registered Learjet 35 crashed around 8 p.m. Tuesday after taking off from the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl. Airport, an FAA spokeswoman said in an email.
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The plane, with with two pilots and two passengers, was en route to Cozumel, Mexico, Kathleen Bergen said. The plane crashed three miles northeast of the Fort Lauderdale airfield and a mile off the southeastern Florida coast.
An airport spokesman told NBC Miami the plane took off at 7:51 p.m. Pilots last communicated with the control tower around 8:20 p.m., the spokesman told the TV station.
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A live feed from a television helicopter showed two body bags on a boat. The bodies of a man and a woman have been recovered, CBS Miami reported.
The plane was a medical flight, the CBS affiliate reports, and may have radioed in that the aircraft was experiencing mechanical problems.
A debris field has been found, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. Coast Guard boats and a MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter are assisting in the search and rescue mission.
The Learjet model can carry up to eight passengers.
