JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three people died when a small plane crashed Sunday night into a retention pond in a Sandalwood neighborhood, about 1 mile from Craig Airport, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
The Cessna 310 went down about 6:20 p.m. in a retention pond in the back yard of a home on Nettington Court, in the Sutton Lakes neighborhood off Atlantic Boulevard
Police, who recovered the bodies of a man and two women, said the plan filed for the flight from Fort Pierce to Jacksonville Executive at Craig indicated three people were to be on the flight. Officers said the wreckage was submerged in the pond.
According to JSO Public Information Officer Melissa Bujeda, the pilot radioed the Craig Airport tower to report he could not see the runway. Channel 4 meteorologist Rebecca Barry says visibility was about 2 miles in the East Arlington area at 6 p.m.
Shortly after the last radio traffic, the JSO 911 center began getting calls about a plane going down.
"The individual who was living in that home actually saw the plane coming in... and he actually thought it was going to hit his house," Bujeda said.
People in the neighborhood said they heard the crash, and some reported their house shook when the plane impacted the water.
"It makes me a little bit nervous," resident Stephen Meckes said. "I'm shaking right now just thinking about it."
According to the Federal Aviation Administration database, the plane is owned by Hubaire LLC out of Fort Pierce, Fla.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have crews headed to Jacksonville to investigate the crash.