Boca Raton small plane crash kills 3 and injures 1, authorities say

Three people are dead and another person was hospitalized after a small airplane crashed onto the Tri-Rail tracks near I-95 in Boca Raton on Friday, authorities said.

Around 10:20 a.m., a Cessna 310 carrying three people departed the Boca Raton Airport and was bound for Tallahassee International Airport before it crashed, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Michael LaSalle, the assistant chief of the Boca Raton Fire Department, confirmed that all three on board were killed in the crash. Meanwhile, another person was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after possibly driving through the fireball from the crash.

The FAA said it and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. 

In a statement released after the crash, Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life, offered condolences to the victims’ families, and praised the swift response of first responders and partnering agencies.

“Our hearts are heavy today with this tragic loss of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and all affected. As every day, we are grateful for the swift action of our Boca Raton Fire Rescue Department and Boca Raton Police Department,” Singer said. “We are grateful for their continued work and our partnerships with other public safety agencies who have also responded. Our community is caring, strong, and resilient, and we will be there to help all affected.”

Commuter nightmare in Boca Raton near I-95

Boca Raton Police shared on X that North Military Trail is closed between Northwest 19th Street and Butts Road due to the crash.

“We expect the road closures to remain into the foreseeable future,” Boca Raton Police said on social media.

The I-95 overpass at Glades Road was temporarily closed in east- and westbound directions, and police are asking everyone to avoid the area.  

A public information officer for the Tri-Rail told CBS News Miami that train traffic and service have been suspended in the area at this time and are setting up a bus bridge between the Deerfield Beach and Boca Raton stations for rail commuters.

A spokesperson for Amtrak, which travels through the same corridors as Tri-Rail, said services have been impacted because of local municipal holds in the area.

The rail service shared on X as of Friday afternoon, Train 41 — which departed from Chicago on Wednesday — has canceled its trip between Tampa and Miami. Train 40 — which was scheduled to depart from Miami on Friday — has also been canceled. Additionally, Train 97 — which departed New York City’s Penn Station on Thursday — has also canceled its trip between Orlando and Miami.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the rail service said.

Boca Raton plane crash left debris everywhere

Chopper 4 was over the scene, where debris from the plane crash was seen covering the Tri-Rail tracks with several emergency vehicles surrounding the crash site and what appears to be fire retardant splattered across the ground.

A charred car wedged up alongside a nearby tree was also seen near the crash site. It is unconfirmed at this time whether this was the vehicle that LaSalle mentioned when addressing the media early Friday afternoon.

Plane may have attempted to return before crashing

Aviation expert and former U.S. Air Force combat pilot Willard Shepard told CBS News Miami that a witness saw the plane take off from the nearby airport and appeared to have “some trouble” and tried to return to the airfield before the crash.

“Obviously, something very catastrophic happened and the plane went down out there [Friday],” he said.

Flightradar24, an online flight tracker, showed the aircraft never left the airport area and just flew in circles. Shepard said that the flight path may give some clues as a what happened. 

“When he’s making those left turns, it indicates that there was potentially some issue, flight control issue that he was trying to deal with, and ultimately, whatever that flight control issue was, it caused the aircraft to go down and him to lose control of the aircraft to no longer keep it airborne,” he said. 

Witnesses left shaken following fiery Boca plane crash

Cell phone video captured the seconds after the Cessna 310 crashed on the Tri-Rail tracks.

When student pilot Jared Scarpato heard the call on the radio, he began watching the plane: “I say out loud that, ‘you know, he’s way too low,’ and it’s incredibly unfortunate. And so he was turning his final leg, which is right near the airport.”

That’s when the twin-engine plane went down, exploding and torching a car as well. 

“He was coming in, trying to land again, and he was just too low,” Scarpato added. “Couldn’t make it — absolutely devastating.”

Dillon Smith, another witness, told CBS News Miami’s crew on the scene that he was talking to a client at his corporate office when he saw the plane appear to almost skim the roof of a nearby building before dropping out of sight.

“I just saw it come down and basically just drop below the tree line,” he said.

Smith continued, saying that there was a “loud boom” right after the plane dropped: “The windows shook and then you saw basically a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire.”

Smith added that his concern was immediate when he saw the plane fly by because he thought that the plane was flying “too low” and it was going to crash into his office building.

“You could tell that something was either up or it just wasn’t right,” he said.

Other witnesses told CBS News Miami’s crew that the crash felt like an earthquake because their buildings shook.