3 believed dead as cargo jet from Miami crashes in bay near Houston

A cargo jetliner originating from Miami crashed with three people aboard into a bay east of Houston early Saturday afternoon, officials said.

“Knowing what I saw I don’t believe anyone could have survived,” Sheriff Brian Hawthorne of Chambers County told reporters, describing the recovery of some human remains from the water. “It looks like total devastation from the aircraft.”

The plane, a twin-engine Boeing 767 cargo jetliner operated by Atlas Air and serving Amazon Prime, crashed into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, shortly before 12:45 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Witnesses told emergency personnel that the plane “went in nose first,” leaving a floating debris field three-quarters of a mile long. The witnesses reporting hearing the plane’s engines surging and that the craft turned sharply before falling into a nosedive, Hawthorne said.