
Mexican Navy Crashes Medical Plane Into Galveston Bay, Killing Five
Key Takeaways
- Mexican Navy King Air medical flight crashed into Galveston Bay while approaching Scholes International Airport
- Eight people aboard: four naval crew and four civilians, including a pediatric burn patient
- At least five people died, including a two-year-old; two survived, one remained missing
Humanitarian medical flight crash
A Mexican Navy twin-engine turboprop on a humanitarian medical mission crashed into Galveston Bay on Monday while approaching Galveston Scholes International Airport, officials said.
“Galveston plane crash: Person missing after plane went down in water confirmed dead, bringing death toll 6, Mexican Navy says | abc13”
The flight was carrying a young medical patient and others coordinating with the Michou y Mau Foundation to transport children with severe burns to treatment at Shriners Children's Hospital in Galveston.

It went down near the base of the Galveston causeway amid foggy conditions.
Multiple outlets report the mission and destination consistently, framing the flight as a medical-evacuation operation rather than a routine military sortie.
Casualties and status update
Officials and multiple news organizations reported eight people aboard — four Mexican Navy personnel and four civilians — and said at least five were killed.
Several outlets identified a two-year-old among the fatalities.

They report two people were rescued alive while one person remained unaccounted for.
Casualty figures vary across reports as recovery efforts continued.
Coverage notes identities have not been publicly released in full and authorities are still confirming the toll.
Rescue after plane crash
Eyewitnesses and first responders described a chaotic rescue amid thick sea fog and poor visibility.
“Waterloo Lambeth Around the Globe Dense fog with near-zero visibility complicated search efforts after a medical flight carrying patients from Mexico crashed into Galveston Bay, killing at least five people and leaving one person missing”
Multiple reports say a local yacht captain, identified in several accounts as Sky Decker, dove to the wreck, pulled an injured woman from an air pocket inside the submerged fuselage, and recovered a man who had already died.
Several sources described fuel on the water and debris scattered around the nearly submerged plane, which complicated rescue and recovery operations.
Multiagency crash response
Multiple U.S. and Mexican agencies joined the response and are involved in the inquiry.
Reports name the U.S. Coast Guard, FAA, NTSB, Texas Department of Public Safety and Galveston County sheriff's dive and drone units among responders.

Mexican Navy officials said they are coordinating with consular teams and investigators.
Sources say investigators are reviewing flight-tracking data and that the cause remains under investigation.
Some outlets note that recovery and analysis of flight data and wreckage could take days.
Conflicting early crash reports
Reporting shows some ambiguity and updates in facts as agencies continued recovery.
“Mexico’s Navy says the plane crashed in the waters off the US state of Texas while carrying out a medical transfer”
Outlets reported the aircraft lost communications with controllers for a span of roughly ten minutes before the crash.

Casualty counts shifted as search-and-recovery continued.
Some sources reported 'at least five' dead, while others later reported six confirmed after a missing person was found.
A few earlier accounts gave differing initial numbers.
These discrepancies stem from reporting at different times and from different official updates rather than a direct factual contradiction about the incident's basics.
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