Plane Bound For Merritt Island Crashes Into Ocean, Divers Find 24-Year-Old Pilot Dead Inside Plane
By Space Coast Daily // January 25, 2021
crash happened around 8 p.m. Sunday Night
BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA – United States Coast Guard and local authorities in Palm Beach County have located a 24-year-old pilot who crashed a plane into the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday.
Coast Guard officials say the 24-year-old male pilot was found dead inside the downed aircraft in the water.
The plane was bound for Merritt Island.
Late Sunday night, divers and rescue crews were searching for the pilot after they discovered the Piper 28 aircraft had crashed around 8 p.m. near the Boynton Beach Inlet.
The 24-year-old pilot was the only person on-board, according to the FAA.
WPBF 25 News spoke with the witness who says he called 911 after seeing the plane crash.
Jonathan Whitmore says he was fishing on the North Pier when the plane went down. He says it was flying from west to east, out toward the ocean, when it crashed into the water.
“When we looked up, we thought it was a drone or something and all of a sudden we heard a loud boom and we saw the plane nose dive into the water,” said Whitmore.
“Right now, after everything is sitting in turmoil and everything, I’m more worried about the family and who lost a loved one. Quite frankly I want to call my parents right now and just say I love you quite frankly. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”
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