A plane crash in Polk County, Florida, has left several people dead, according to officials on Sunday.
“A Cessna 340 aircraft crashed on departure from Bartow Municipal Airport in Florida at about 8 am today. Four people were on board, local authorities will release their names and conditions, the FAA will release the aircraft registration after that,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement, reported WFTV.
Authorities say multiple people have died in a small plane crash in Florida: https://t.co/QoiGPwRekx pic.twitter.com/y1DGhlVpWm
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) December 24, 2017
Four died when the twin-engine plane crashed at the end of the runway of the airport in Bartow, according to the report.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told ABC News there were “no survivors.”
“I have reviewed some footage, and clearly no one should have tried to a takeoff from this airport at 7:15 this morning,” Judd said. “The airport was totally socked in with fog.”
Judd said that he personally knows one of the people who died on the plane.
“I have known him for years and years and years,” he said.
National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigators will look into the cause of the crash.
“We were assisted by Polk Fire Rescue, which put out the fire. We know upon impact that there was a huge fire,” the sheriff added.
Judd added, “I am not a plane crash investigator but from all indications the plane was in the air and came back to the ground. And no there was no survivors, no chance of anyone surviving.”
Dispatchers described poor visibility.
“I do see Polk County Fire units, unfortunately on the runway the fog is so low we can’t see anything on the runway and are investigating and we did not see or come across any pilots or planes on the runway at this time,” the transcription of the dispatch said, as ABC reported.
Another noted the following: “Engine 461, Battalion 4, we’re on scene now at the air base… it’s really foggy. We’re unable to see it from our location, I’m going to try to make it out onto the airfield.”
“This is an absolutely horrific tragedy, especially on Christmas Eve. Please keep these victims and their family members in your prayers,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office tweeted about the accident.
#BartowPlaneCrash update "This is an absolutely horrific tragedy, especially on Christmas Eve. Please keep these victims and their family members in your prayers." – Grady Judd, Sheriff pic.twitter.com/dD2zutHT5X
— Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) December 24, 2017
PCSO & @PolkFire on scene of twin-engine plane crash with several deaths near end of runway @ Ben Durrance Rd on Bartow Airbase. Cross street Bomber Rd. PIOs setting up media staging. FAA & NTSB enroute. PCSO will do death investigations. More info soon via Media Alert & Twitter.
— Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) December 24, 2017
From The Epoch Times