March 8 (UPI) — Five people died Friday when a small airplane crashed into South Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue divers recovered the bodies after a witness initially reported seeing a person swimming away from the crashed airplane about 400 yards from shore.
The plane crashed just north of Pahokee airport.
PBSO said it recovered all five bodies from the fuselage of the plane.
WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach reported the twin-engine Piper aircraft crashed as it approached the airport around 3:30 p.m. The flight originated from Tampa.
The office’s Violent Crimes Division, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash.
