A small single-engine Cessna carrying a family of five, including an infant and a toddler, crashed Saturday morning on Upper Captiva Island in Florida after clipping a fence during takeoff on a grass runway, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office and witnesses at the scene.
Not a single person on board was hurt.
Witnesses described the sequence of events that unfolded in seconds. Peter Raby, who was traveling on a nearby road in a golf cart, said he had a front-row view—and nearly ended up directly beneath the plane.
According to Raby, the plane's right wing struck a fence while the plane was taking off, causing it to spin off to the right before crashing approximately 20 feet from the fence line. First responders from Upper Captiva arrived almost immediately after the plane went down, Raby said.
Among those aboard were a 3-month-old baby and a 4-year-old child, he said, adding that he rushed to help get the children out.
"Once I got the door open, they handed them out to me, and it was good, because they were both alive," he said. "But you know, for her to be frozen, she was frozen. And it's not screaming like the 3-month-old."
The FAA said the plane involved was a Rockwell Commander 114 that came down around 7:20 p.m. local time. Local authorities told NBC affiliate WYFF 4 that early indications point to a mechanical issue that developed during flight. All three occupants survived with non-life-threatening injuries.