Mexican Navy Crashes Medical Plane Into Galveston Bay, Killing Five
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Mexican Navy Crashes Medical Plane Into Galveston Bay, Killing Five

23 December, 2025.Mexico.62 sources

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

ABC13 HoustonABC13 Houston

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.

Image from ABC13 Houston
ABC13 HoustonABC13 Houston

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.

Image from ABC7 Chicago
ABC7 ChicagoABC7 Chicago

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

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.

Image from AeroTime
AeroTimeAeroTime

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

Outlets reported the aircraft lost communications with controllers for a span of roughly ten minutes before the crash.

Image from Al Jazeera
Al JazeeraAl Jazeera

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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