Plane crash near Ten Thousand Islands prompts urgent rescue effort

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — A small plane was reported in the water near Port of the Islands on Sunday afternoon, and emergency crews responded to the scene, authorities said.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office said it received a call at 12:49 p.m. from someone who saw a plane in the water but did not witness a crash.

CCSO reported that a pilot and a passenger were on board when the plane went down. Both were taken to the hospital, though their conditions are still unknown.

Fire rescue crews and emergency medical services were also on scene.

Margaret Jones, who lives on her boat at the Port of the Islands Marina, witnessed the rescue operation.

"We saw a bunch of commotion at the head of the dock, a lot of ambulances and police response," said Jones. "Then all of a sudden, we saw a sheriff's boat, in the process of doing CPR on somebody, race down over here to where the ramp is to offload."

Jones described the urgency as first responders brought a person to shore.

"The EMTs came down, put him on the stretcher, took him up to the ambulance, and they continued to work on him," she said. "But I could tell that it wasn't going too well because they weren't transporting right away."

A second boat soon arrived with another person from the plane.

"We saw the guy sit up. So, yeah, he's alive, you know, and they offloaded him and transported him to the hospital," said Jones.

An aviation unit searched the surrounding area for additional people in the water, authorities said.

Rich Kolko, WINK's security analyst and retired Navy pilot, highlighted the challenges of rescuing in the Everglades.

"Normally wouldn't have to think about things like alligators. So when FWC comes out with their boats, they'll probably have somebody with a rifle there to protect anybody who's walking around the water looking for any survivors," said Kolko.

Kolko explained that investigators will examine the plane to determine the cause of the crash.

"If they want to find the airplane, they'll truck it out of there, get it out and take it to a hangar somewhere and take a look at the airplane to see what actually went wrong. Sometimes they'll do a what's called a bench turn on the engine to see if the engine runs," he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken over as the primary agency in the investigation. The situation remains active, and no additional information is immediately available.

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