Sheriff: "I do not think anyone can survive" plunges the nose of a cargo plane into Trinity Bay

It is feared that three crew members died after a Boeing 767 airliner, under contract with Amazon, entered Trinity Bay near Anahuac on Saturday afternoon, creating a debris field including human remains.

Federal aviation officials gave little details as to why the plane had plunged into the air just minutes before it arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport and had not yet confirmed death, but the Chambers County Sheriff, Brian Hawthorne, told the crew of the 3591 flight from Atlas Air. has almost certainly been lost.

"Knowing what I saw, I do not believe anyone could have survived this situation," he said, noting that witnesses had described the plane crashing in the waters around 12:40. A half-kilometer-wide debris field invaded the shallow bay on Saturday afternoon as seven police departments, led by the US Coast Guard and initially assisted by civilians boarded jon boats, have searched for traces of the crew. Human remains were found, but the authorities did not provide details about the victims.

The aircraft in aluminum and steel is disintegrated at the moment of impact; the sheriff said the largest piece recovered by the police is 50 feet long. He called the scene "total devastation".

"There is everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," Hawthorne said.

The sheriff said the police would continue his search all night and called it a recovery attempt.

The flight records show that the plane was part of the Amazon Prime Air fleet, but the New York-based airline, Atlas Air, operated the plane. Atlas confirmed the crash Saturday afternoon and said that three crew members were on board.

"These people and their family members are our top priority right now," the airline said in a statement.

The 767 was on a regular cargo flight between Miami and Houston, confirmed a spokesman for the Houston Airport system. The real-time flight data published by the FlightAware.com website indicate that the aircraft departed the Miami International Airport at 10:33 am Central Standard Time.

Douglas Moss, a retired 767 pilot who is now working as an aviation consultant in Nevada, said that the data show a normal flight pattern until the aircraft comes to life. Houston approach. At 1238, the aircraft descended 11,750 feet in approximately 30 seconds.

"Below 7,000 feet, the rate of descent reaches an absurdly high level," said Moss.

The Federal Aviation Administration lost radar and radio contact to the plane while it was about 30 miles southeast of Bush, the agency said. Some witnesses said they heard the engines of the aircraft spitting, while others said they heard a sound like a thunderclap, said Hawthorne. He crashed into the bay shortly before 12:45, according to the FAA.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Sunday night in Washington that the plane appeared to be making a normal descent that suddenly accelerated until the plane hit the ground. # 39; water.

According to Mr. Moss, the NTSB investigators will ultimately determine the cause of the loss of Atlas Air 3591. But since the aircraft appears to behave normally until it reaches low altitudes, it is unlikely that the depressurization of the cabin played a role in this accident. Hawthorne said the weather was also an unlikely culprit.

The Chambers County Sheriff's Assistants and FAA investigators also supported the scene, as well as staff from many other agencies. The Harris County Sheriff's Office has sent MPs to help with rescue efforts, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

The Houston Police Department dispatched officers from its maritime unit to help the US Coast Guard intervene on the scene, according to a tweet from HPD. Asst. Chief Larry Satterwhite, who oversees the department's Homeland Security Command, was on site.

Brian Ligon, a spokesperson for the town of Mont Belvieu, said the shallow bay and surrounding marsh presented challenges for researchers.

"I've been on a boat a few times, where you're sailing mostly on dry sand and a few meters away, it's very deep," said Ligon.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency responsible for investigating civil aviation accidents, will conduct the investigation. The FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety were also present.

The Boeing 767 is a large twin-engine jet airliner used to transport cargo or about 280 passengers. The aircraft has been involved in six fatal accidents since its inception in 1981, according to a study by the Flight Safety Foundation. The aircraft that crashed Saturday was built in 1992 and has been converted into a cargo plane in recent years, according to FAA records.

Editor-in-chief Erica Apodaca contributed to this report.

[email protected]

jasper.scherer @ chron.com