A small plane reportedly crashed into Tampa Bay while attempting to evacuate multiple individuals from Hurricane Milton.
RELATED: What To Know: Milton Heads Toward Florida As Category 5 Hurricane
Here’s What Reportedly Happened During The Small Plane’s Evacuation From Hurricane Milton
According to The Independent, the crash occurred around 10:52 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8, near St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Airport. Four people were reportedly onboard a Piper Cherokee aircraft when the engine failed.
The craft reportedly landed in a body of water.
WFLA reports that footage was subsequently released of the passengers being evacuated from the craft while it was submerged in the the bay. The passengers were reportedly “holding on to the plane’s tail wing.” Furthermore, the outlet even noted that a dog was onboard.
“They just disappeared off the radar. We thought they went into the water, so we worked with the tower to basically suspend all aircraft operations at Albert Whitted,” a member of the United States Coast Guard told reporters. “The aircraft, which was floating, with four persons in the water and they were holding on to the tail wing of their aircraft.”
Video released by the United States Coast Guard shows the dire rescue after a plane carrying four passengers and a dog evacuating from Hurricane Milton crashed near the St. Pete Pier Tuesday morning.
"They just disappeared off the radar," the USCG said. https://t.co/TIan68dc1O pic.twitter.com/gAZpKHPpLz
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) October 9, 2024
What Are The Conditions Of The Passengers After The Crash?
According to WFLA, three passengers were taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital. They reportedly sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Video released by the United States Coast Guard shows the dire rescue after a plane carrying four passengers and a dog evacuating from Hurricane Milton crashed near the St. Pete Pier Tuesday morning.
"They just disappeared off the radar," the USCG said. https://t.co/TIan68dc1O pic.twitter.com/gAZpKHPpLz
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) October 9, 2024
Meanwhile, The Independent reports that Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in the Tampa area between Wednesday evening and the morning of Thursday, October 10. Furthermore, the hurricane is expected to bring “up to 15ft of storm surge and winds of up to 100mph.”
The 11am advisory is in and #Milton is accelerating NE and winds are down from 155 to 145 mph. It will come ashore as a CAT3 folks. This is a very dangerous storm with far with far reaching impacts. STay with #weshwx for updates. pic.twitter.com/0OSARk85Xe
— Tony Mainolfi (@TMainolfiWESH) October 9, 2024
Hurricane Helene Recently Made Landfall In Florida
As the state of Florida braces itself for the impact of Hurricane Milton, we must note that the area was recently severely impacted by Hurricane Helene’s landfall. As The Shade Room previously reported, Helene recently struck the area and impacted surrounding states.
Hurricane Helene reportedly left behind damaged roadways and bridges and impacted the state’s electrical structures.
As of October 1, it was reported that over 130 people lost their lives from the storm across multiple states.
