Air traffic controllers lost contact with a small Mexican Navy plane carrying a young patient and seven other people for about ten minutes before it crashed off the Texas coast in thick fog, killing at least six people, the Mexican government said on Tuesday.
The plane was working with a nonprofit to transport severely burned Mexican children to a hospital in Galveston, near Houston, when it crashed Monday afternoon. Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum told a morning news conference on Tuesday that authorities believed the plane had landed but that contact with air traffic controllers was lost.
Rescue teams found five bodies and pulled two survivors from the wreckage before beginning a day-long search in the waters near Galveston for 29-year-old Navy Lt. Luis Enrique Castillo. Castillo’s family returned to their rural town in southern Mexico, scrambling to find answers and hope for the best for their missing son.
“We don’t know what to do,” his father, Eduardo Castillo, said Tuesday. “All we can do is wait. We can’t go to the United States, we don’t have a visa.”
The search ended Tuesday night when search teams discovered Castillo’s body. U.S. authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, but the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday it could take a week or more to restore the plane.
“What happened is very tragic,” Scheinbaum told a morning news conference, noting that sailors were among the dead.
The plane is descending too low
As the twin-turboprop Beech King Air 350i approached Galveston Shoals International Airport, radar showed the plane was too low, said Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration crash investigator.
The navigation system for the runway where the plane was supposed to land has been out of service for about a week, Guzzetti said. The system sends signals to aircraft cockpits to help pilots navigate the severe weather gripping the area. The fog was so thick that meteorologists estimated visibility was only about half a mile.
If the runway is not visible at 205 feet (62.5 meters), pilots should abandon the landing and climb back out before trying again or finding another airport entirely, Guzzetti said.
Guzzetti said the reported radar track showed the pilot was descending rapidly below 200 feet (61 meters), a full 2 ​​miles (3 kilometers) from the runway.
“Maybe there was some kind of mechanical failure,” he said. “But just looking at the recorded flight path and comparing it to the weather and airport equipment outages, in my opinion, this method of landing should not have happened at all.”
Witnesses describe the crash scene
The plane crashed in a bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. This popular beach destination is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives near the accident site, said he jumped into his boat to see if he could help. He rescued two police officers and guided him through thick fog to the nearly submerged plane. Decker jumped into the water and found a severely injured woman trapped beneath a chair and other debris.
“She probably had a 3-inch (7.6 centimeter) air gap to breathe,” he said. “There was jet fuel mixed with water and the smoke was pretty bad. She was literally fighting for her life.”
He said he also pulled out a man who was sitting in front of her who was already dead.
Family shocked
On Tuesday afternoon, Eduardo Castillo gathered with other family and friends in the sweltering small community of El Pantano in the southern Mexican state of Veracruz.
The father, who worked long hours as a carpenter to provide his son with opportunities he never had, frantically refreshes his phone every few minutes in search of news about his missing son. He noted that the Mexican Marines provided few details other than receiving a call that their son was missing.
The walls of their home are covered with framed pictures of Luis Enrique Castillo and his many diplomas. He and his wife are expecting a baby in three months.
On Tuesday night, Castillo heard the phone ring, answered it, and heard the words he feared the most. His son died.
“Now he will never see his unborn child again,” Edward Castillo said as his family hugged and cried around him.
Investigators delve into the cause
An NTSB spokesman said in an email that investigators will review maintenance records, weather reports and air traffic control communications. A preliminary report is expected to be released within 30 days.
Guzzetti said the investigation may also look into how serious the young patient’s condition was and what the pilot’s motivation was for the landing.
“There have been incidents before in the aviation medical community where pilots tried their luck to save patients,” he said.
Aviation safety expert John Cox said the plane’s design was “very, very proven”. He said this is the latest version of the series that has been in use since the 1960s and will be equipped with all modern electronics, avionics and equipment.
Aircraft are assisting with medical missions
The Mexican Navy said the aircraft was assisting with the medical mission in coordination with the Michu and Mau Foundation.
The charity was set up after a mother died saving her child from a fire. One child died and the other survived after being treated at Shriners Hospitals for Children of Texas in Galveston. Over 23 years, the foundation has helped transfer more than 2,000 patients to the hospital and other medical facilities with burns expertise, according to the charity’s website.
In a social media post, the foundation expressed its condolences to the families of the crash victims.
The Texas Shriners said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” to learn of the crash but could not provide any information about the child’s condition.
The accident occurred amid concerns over aviation safety
The latest crash comes amid intense scrutiny over a year of aviation safety, following a series of high-profile crashes and flight disruptions during a government shutdown due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
In January, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia after a mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger plane near Washington, D.C. The UPS crash this fall further heightened concerns. Still, the total number of crashes in 2025 is actually down from last year, and experts say flying remains generally safe.
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Marquez reported from El Pantano and Janetski reported from Mexico City. Hallie Golden contributed to this report.
