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An airliner from Miami crashed with three people on board in a bay east of Houston early Saturday afternoon, officials said.
"Knowing what I saw, I do not think anyone could have survived," Sheriff Brian Hawthorne of Chambers County told the press, describing the recovery of some human remains in the water. "It sounds like a total devastation of the plane."
The plane, a twin-engine Boeing 767 airliner operated by Atlas Air and serving Amazon Prime, crashed in Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas shortly before 12:45 pm, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Witnesses told the rescue teams that the plane "went nose to nose", leaving a debris field floating a distance of three quarters of a mile. Witnesses reported hearing the aircraft engines making waves and that the craft turned sharply before sinking into the nose, Hawthorne said.
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.
Atlas Air flight 3591, connecting Miami to Houston, lost radar and radio contact about 30 miles southeast of Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Trinity Bay is just north of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
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 responsible for finding the black box, said the sheriff.
Miami – based Atlas Air Worldwide, headquartered in New York, said the company was cooperating fully with the investigators and confirmed the presence of three people in the plane at the time of its crash.
"These people and their family members are our top priority right now," the company said.
The Atlas Air website states that the company provides "the ultimate in safe and reliable freight and passenger transportation".
According to the Flight Aware website, the plane departed Miami at 11:33 and its last reported altitude was about 3,000 feet, when it appeared that the plane was coming down. to Houston.
FAA investigators and the FBI joined the first responders at the crash site. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting the investigation.
The Boeing company tweeted that he was "deeply saddened to learn the crash of the Air Atlas 767". "Boeing is ready to provide technical assistance to the NTSB as part of its investigation of the accident," the tweet says.
Amazon has also released a statement on the crash.
"Our thoughts and prayers accompany the flight crew, their families and friends, as well as the entire Atlas Air team during this terrible tragedy," said Dave Clark, vice-president of the team. President of International Operations. "We appreciate first responders who have worked urgently to provide support."
The information provided by The Associated Press has been used in this report.
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