A tragic aviation accident in the Gulf of Mexico has claimed the lives of five people, including a two-year-old child, after a Mexican Navy aircraft plunged into the sea off the Texas coast.
A Medical Mission Ends in Tragedy
The twin-turboprop King Air ANX 1209 was on a dedicated medical mission, transporting a young patient for urgent care, when it went down in rough waters near Galveston on Monday afternoon. The aircraft was carrying eight people in total: four members of the Mexican Navy and four civilians.
According to the US Coast Guard, which confirmed the child's death on Tuesday, the plane crashed near the base of a causeway approximately 50 miles southeast of Houston. The flight had originated in Monterrey, Mexico, and was bound for Scholes International Airport in Galveston.
Heroic Rescue Amidst Wreckage and Fuel
Local professional captain Sky Decker, who lives close to the crash site, rushed to the scene in his boat. He described finding the plane almost completely submerged in churning, fog-shrouded seas. "It looked like it would be impossible for anybody to survive," Decker told CNN.
Undeterred, he entered the water and located a severely injured woman trapped under debris with only a tiny air pocket. "I couldn't believe. She had maybe three inches of air gap to breathe in," he said, adding that the water was mixed with jet fuel fumes. "She was really fighting for her life." Decker also recovered a deceased male victim from the wreckage.
In total, two passengers were pulled alive from the sea, though their current medical condition is unclear. One individual remains missing, and search efforts are ongoing.
Charity Mission and Ongoing Investigation
Among those on board were two representatives from the Michou and Mau Foundation, a non-profit organisation that assists Mexican children with severe burns. The group was believed to be en route to Shriners Children's Hospital in Galveston for life-saving treatment.
In a social media statement, the foundation expressed its "deepest solidarity" with the families and reaffirmed its commitment to caring for burn victims.
Mexico's Navy has pledged a full investigation into the cause of the "accident" and is assisting US authorities. Preliminary data indicates the aircraft vanished from radar over the bay around 3:02 pm local time. The region had been experiencing dense fog, with visibility reduced to half a mile around the time of the crash, though the official role of weather is yet to be determined.
Teams from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are now on site investigating the cause of this devastating crash.
