The bodies of two men have been recovered from the Gulf of Mexico after their plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Venice, Florida, police say.
The victims, who are believed to be in their 50s to 60s, were discovered late Wednesday about a half-mile away from the Venice Fishing Pier, according to the Venice Police Department.
"We heard a plane... coming too low," a server at Fins, a restaurant on the pier, told ABC7, adding that the aircraft made a "sharp turn to the right and then it went behind the pier.
"We saw a flash of light came out and that’s all we could see," the worker added.
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Venice Police said Thursday that "Emergency crews are still searching the debris field west of the Venice Fishing Pier this morning following Wednesday night's plane crash," noting that the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has divers in the water.
"Venice Police are working closely with Florida Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office," the department said.
Investigators say the plane took off around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday from Venice Municipal Airport before crashing.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The weather at the time of the crash was calm, with temperatures near 80 degrees.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Federal Aviation Administration said there were only two people on board the single-engine plane and that the National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating.
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The model of the plane is unclear.
The crash happened months after another plane went down shortly after leaving Venice Municipal Airport in December 2022, killing a family of three onboard.
In that incident, a single-engine Piper PA-28 crashed in the Gulf of Mexico about 16 seconds following takeoff, claiming the lives of Florida pilot Christian Kath, his wife Misty and their 12-year-old daughter Lily, WFLA reported. Kath’s body has never been found.
That crash reportedly happened just 1,800 feet beyond the end of the runway. The pilot, according to WFLA, had 74.2 hours of flight experience prior to the disaster.
Another pilot that spoke to the station at the time said the Venice airport – which is located up against the coastline -- can be disorienting during night takeoffs.
"You don’t have any way of your brain knowing what’s up or down because you can’t see the horizon," pilot Jerrid Velte said. "There’s no boat lights underneath you. There’s no city lights."
