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HOUSTON (AP) – A Boeing 767 airliner heading for Houston with three people on board disintegrated after crashing on Saturday in a bay in the east of the city, according to a sheriff of Texas.
Witnesses told the rescue teams that the twin-engine aircraft "had a nose up", leaving a three-quarters-mile debris field in Trinity Bay, said Chambers County Sheriff , Brian Hawthorne.
"It's probably an accident that no one would survive," he said, calling the scene "total devastation."
Witnesses said they heard the aircraft engines making waves and that the craft had veered sharply before sinking into the nose, Hawthorne said.
Aerial footage shows rescuers walking along a sandy swamp tongue with debris that extends into the water.
The sheriff said that the recovery of the pieces of the aircraft, his black box containing the flight data and the remains of people on board would be difficult in the muddy swamps that extend up to about 5 feet deep in the area. Inflatable boats are needed to access the area.
Hawthorne tells the Houston Chronicle that investigators have found parts of the cargo plane that crashed just east of Houston.
"There is everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," Hawthorne said.
The sheriff told the newspaper that the largest piece of the Boeing 767 recovered by the police was 50 feet long.
The flight was operated for Amazon by Atlas Air, according to a statement by the airline. He had departed Miami earlier and an FAA alert had been triggered following the loss of radar and radio contact from the aircraft by the radar while it was about 48 km southeast of the airport. Intercontinental airport George Bush in Houston.
Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Global Operations at Amazon, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the flight crew, their families and friends, as well as with the rest of the world. Atlas Air team during this terrible tragedy We thank the first responders who worked urgently to provide support. "
The Boeing 767 had three people on board. The flight had already left Miami and an FAA alert was triggered after the aircraft lost radar and radio contact while it was about 30 miles southeast of Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport. .
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an alert following the loss of radar and radio contact from Atlas Air Flight 3591, located about 48 km southeast of the airport, the FAA spokesman said. Lynn Lunsford.
The Coast Guard sent boats and at least one helicopter to help search for survivors. A dive team from the Texas Department of Public Safety will be tasked with finding the black box, Hawthorne said.
Trinity Bay is just north of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
FAA investigators are on the scene, as well as the National Transportation Safety Board authorities, who will conduct the investigation.
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