iStock/Thinkstock(BARTOW, Fla.) — Four people died after a twin-engine plane trying to take off in heavy fog crashed at the end of a runway at an airport in central Florida, causing a “huge fire”, authorities said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said there were “no survivors” of the crash at Bartow Municipal Airport in Bartow, Florida.
The FAA said in a statement that four people were on board the Cessna 340 plane when it crashed Sunday morning.
“I have reviewed some footage, and clearly no one should have tried to a takeoff from this airport at 7:15 this morning,” Judd said during a press conference this morning. “The airport was totally socked in with fog.”
The identities of those on the plane will be released later, the sheriff said, adding that he personally knows at least one person on the plane.
“I have known him for years and years and years,” he said.
The NTSB is investigating the crash, and Judd said his officers were assisted in their response by the county fire department.
“We were assisted by Polk Fire Rescue, which put out the fire. We know upon impact that there was a huge fire,” the sheriff said.
Judd added, “I am not a plane crash investigator but from all indications the plane was in the air and came back to the ground. And no there was no survivors, no chance of anyone surviving.”
As Polk County Fire and Rescue personnel headed to the crash site they had trouble spotting the wreckage, according to radio transcriptions reviewed by ABC News.
In one dispatch, a firefighter described the limited visibility.
“Engine 461, Battalion 4, we’re on scene now at the air base… it’s really foggy. We’re unable to see it from our location, I’m going to try to make it out onto the airfield,” the responder radioed.
Another dispatch also discussed the foggy conditions.
“I do see Polk County Fire units, unfortunately on the runway the fog is so low we can’t see anything on the runway and are investigating and we did not see or come across any pilots or planes on the runway at this time,” the transcription said.
The local sheriff said he knew one of the people who lost their lives this morning.
“This is an absolutely horrific tragedy, especially on Christmas Eve. Please keep these victims and their family members are in your prayers,” the Sheriff’s Office tweeted.
The airport once served as the Bartow Army Air Field during World War II, according to its museum’s website.
After the war, the complex functioned as a “flight school training cadets for military service” before it was turned over to the city of Bartow, the website says.
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