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Flagler County plane crash: Pilot presumed dead after plane crashes in wooded area, officials say

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Published  February 15, 2025 12:45pm EST
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FOX 35 Orlando

Airplane crash in Flagler County: Press conference

A missing airplane over Florida was found to have crashed in a rural, wooded area overnight in Flagler County, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

The Brief

    • A missing plane crashed overnight in a rural area of Central Florida, officials said.
    • The pilot, the only person aboard the aircraft, is presumed to be dead, said Sheriff Rick Staly.
    • He said it appears the flight hit the ground nearly straight down – and fast. The cause of the crash is unknown.
    • The plane was flying from Sebastian to Palatka.

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. - A missing airplane over Florida was found to have crashed in a rural, wooded area overnight in Flagler County, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. The pilot, the only person aboard the plane, is presumed dead due to the impact and debris field, the sheriff said.

What we know:

The 10-seat Cessna 208 plane departed Sebastian Airport around 5 p.m. Friday en route to Palatka Airport, said Sheriff Staly. Around 7:30 p.m. air traffic control lost contact with the plane and attempted to reach the pilot.

Radar showed lost contact around 900 feet and showed that the plane was "descending rapidly," Sheriff Staly said.

Between midnight and 1 a.m. on Saturday, a Volusia Sheriff's Office helicopter crew located the plane wreckage and assisted deputies on the ground in finding it.

"Worst conditions you could imagine to find an aircraft," said Sheriff Staly, noting that it was pitch black with heavy cloud cover. He said deputies smelled fuel, which helped teams work together to keep the search to a specific area.

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A missing plane crashed overnight in a wooded area in Flagler County, officials said. The pilot, the only person aboard the plane, is presumed dead, the sheriff said. Credit: Flagler County Sheriff's Office

What we don't know:

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Sheriff Staly said based on the debris field alone, there wasn't much "gliding" that the plane performed it appeared. He said it appeared the plane hit the ground nearly straight down.

The FAA and NTSB will both investigate the cause of the crash, which could take several weeks and months.

VSO helicopter find plane crash wreckage

Video from Volusia County Sheriff's Office's helicopter shows the moment crews found the wreckage of a crashed plane in Flagler County, The pilot, the only person aboard the aircraft, is presumed dead, officials said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Sheriff Rick Staly said conditions were tough to find the plane due to it being in a remote area, pitch black, and with heavy cloud cover.

EagleAir Transport

In a statement, Rook Nelson, president of EagleAir Transport, an Illinois-based aerospace company, confirmed that one of its planes was involved in the crash.

"We became aware around 8 pm last night that there was an incident involving one of our aircraft. Around 6 pm an experienced pilot departed Sebastian, FL enroute to Palatka. The aircraft did not make it to its destination for unknown reasons. We have very little information beyond this and are working with local and federal authorities in the ongoing investigation," he said in a statement.

Nelson told FOX 35 in an email that the plane was on a "repositioning" flight up to Palatka and that the pilot was the only person onboard.

Sheriff Staly said these planes are typically used for skydiving – and that, based on info he had, this plane was going to be used for skydiving flights next week. 

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The Source: The information in this article came from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, NTSB, and EagleAir Transport.

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