Learjet crashes off Fla. coast en route to Mexico
- Coast Guard found wreckage about 2 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale airport
- Plane carried two pilots and two passengers and was bound for Cozumel%2C Mexico
- At least two people were confirmed dead%2C the Coast Guard said
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Learjet en route from Florida to Mexico plunged into the Atlantic Ocean with four people aboard Tuesday evening, and at least two people were confirmed dead, authorities said.
The Learjet 35, registered in Mexico, went down about 3 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, its departure point, and ended up in waters about a mile offshore, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an e-mail.
Coast Guard search-and-rescue crews located the plane's wreckage about 2 miles northeast of the airport, and at least two people were confirmed dead, while the search continued for the two others, the Guard said in a news release.
Bergen told The Associated Press that the plane, which went down about 8:15 p.m., was carrying two pilots and two passengers, and was headed for Cozumel, an island off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.