Florida Plane Crash Leaves Two Dead, Two Pilots Still Missing Off the Coast of Fort Lauderdale

A small plane crashed off the coast of Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night, leaving two passengers out of the four people aboard dead.

The Learjet 35 aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, just three miles from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to the city's spokesperson Matt Little, who spoke with NBC Miami shortly after the incident. Law enforcement found one man and one woman's remains not far from the site of the wreckage.

The passengers have been identified as Fernando Senties Nieto and Mariana Gonzalez Isuna, according to a statement from Mexico's Directorate General of Civil Aeronics. The pilots were Jose Hiram Galvan and Josue Buendia Moreno.

Rescue crews looked for the two others into Wednesday morning, Coast Guard Lt. Commander Gabe Somma reported at a press conference. The scene of the accident spanned 20 square miles, with about 1,000 pounds of debris littering the immediate area.

"We still have a very active search and rescue case going on this morning off the coast of Fort Lauderdale," he stated. "We continue at this hour to be fully engaged in a search and rescue effort."

The small plane embarked from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 7:51 p.m., Tuesday night, and was headed for Cozumel, Mexico spokesperson from the airport Greg Meyer told NBC Miami. At 8:20 p.m., pilots on board the Learjet made their final connection with air traffic controllers.

Authorities found the deceased passengers' remains about 25 minutes later.

During their mayday call to the control tower, a pilot told the dispatcher that he was going to turn back to the airport.

"You said you're going back to Fort Lauderdale?" the controller asked, according to NBC.

"We have an engine failure," the pilot stated. The plane crashed not long after.

Coast Guard Lt. Paul Turner reported that search crews, including an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from the Coast Guard, a Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue boat crew and three Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission search and rescue crews, would be looking for the two still missing late into Wednesday.

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