Flight Instructor, Passenger Dead After Plane Crashes Into Swamp

A small plane crashed into a Florida swamp on Wednesday night, killing a flight instructor and a passenger.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, officers responded to the crash at about 6 p.m. local time after the plane "sent an emergency signal to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center."

Roughly an hour later, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office Air One helicopter located the plane "about a mile north of the end of Lopez Road in Osteen, east of Lake Ashby." After locating the downed plane, the Air One helicopter guided deputies "through thick vegetation and swamp," the sheriff's office said.

The crash comes just a few days after another small plane ran out of gas and crashed onto a road in Orlando, Florida.

In a press release, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said that when deputies eventually located the downed plane in a swampy area, it was heavily damaged and upside down, making it "impossible" for deputies to initially confirm the number of occupants.

"But it was later reported that two people (a flight instructor and passenger) were in the plane when it took off from Spruce Creek Fly-In around 4:30 p.m.," according to the release.

Both of the plane's occupants were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the sheriff's office, the plane was a single-engine MXR Technologies MX2 that had taken off Tybee Island in Georgia.

"The names of the deceased are not being released at this time pending positive identification and notification of next of kin," the sheriff's office said, adding that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the crash.

In a statement sent to Newsweek, the FAA confirmed that the plane was a single-engine MX Aircraft MX2.

"The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates. Neither agency identifies people involved in aircraft accidents," the FAA said.

According to WOFL in Orlando, a single-engine Cessna crashed last Friday after running out of fuel.

"It's crazy 'cause I visually checked that fuel, that day," the pilot, Remy Colin, told WOFL. "I knew it was low but still made the conscious decision to go, and just one little thing led to a bigger thing."

In May, a small plane crash in Colorado left two occupants dead after striking a tree.

"As a result of today's plane crash in Anthem Ranch, there were two fatalities," a local fire department said on Twitter following the crash. "Sadly there were no survivors. No bystanders were injured and no homes were damaged."

Newsweek reached out to the NTSB for comment.