Fourth victim recovered in Everglades plane crash

Miami-Dade police and fire rescue search and recovery team members have recovered the body of a fourth victim from Tuesday’s plane crash in the Everglades.

The four people were killed after the mid-air collision of two small planes. The bodies of three of the victims were recovered on Wednesday.

Yesterday afternoon at 1:01 p.m., #MDFR received a report of a small aircraft down near 22700 SW 8 St. 27 MDFR units were dispatched to the scene, including MDFR’s #AirRescue and the #MarineServices Unit Airboat.

Read more: https://t.co/CGGOiyTeRz pic.twitter.com/c0JbbD8eLX

— Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (@MiamiDadeFire) July 18, 2018

The planes went down south of Tamiami Trail a few miles west of Krome Avenue at mile marker 23.

Rescuers located a Piper Seneca just south of Tamiami Trail, the wreckage of a Cessna was found a little further away.

The planes were from Dean International, a flight school based at Miami Executive Airport.

Those killed in the crash have been identified as 19-year-old Nisha Sejwall, 22-year-old Jorge Sanchez, and 72-year-old Ralph Knight. The fourth victim found Wednesday has not been identified.

Daniel Miralles said he and his friend Gary Winthorpe were out fishing when the crash happened around 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

He took cell phone video, which captured debris falling from the sky following the collision.

“Imagine an 18-wheeler going 100 miles an hour and colliding into a wall. That’s what it sounded like,” said Miralles.

“Out of nowhere, we hear a semi pass by and then we hear this big explosion so in our heads we’re thinking the semi truck crashed and we look up and all you see is this giant ball of flame,” said Winthorpe. “You see one spinning, falling down and you see the other one engulfed in flames falling down.”

Nearly 30 Miami Dade Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the scene where rescuers had to use airboats to reach the remote area where the planes were.

The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).