Galveston, Texas, December 24: At least five people were killed after a small Mexican Navy aircraft on a medical mission crashed into waters near Galveston on the Texas coast on Monday, U.S. and Mexican authorities said. The aircraft was carrying eight people, including a young medical patient, when it went down near the base of a causeway in Galveston, about 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Houston, officials said.
Mexico’s Navy said four of those on board were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child. Two of the civilians were members of the Michou and Mau Foundation, a non-profit organisation that assists Mexican children suffering from severe burn injuries. It was not immediately clear which passengers were among those killed.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker confirmed that five fatalities had been reported. Search and rescue operations were launched soon after the crash as authorities assessed the situation.
Mexico’s Navy said the aircraft had been conducting a medical mission when it suffered what it described as an “accident,” adding that it was assisting U.S. authorities and providing updates on social media platform X.
“The incident remains under investigation, and additional information will be released as it becomes available,” the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, urging the public to stay away from the area to allow emergency crews to work safely.
Teams from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the crash site to investigate, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Local responders, including dive teams, drone units, patrol officers and crime scene investigators, were also deployed.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Fog has affected the Galveston area in recent days, and visibility around the time of the incident had been reduced to about half a mile, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.
