PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Three people were on board a small plane when it crashed at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines on Friday.
Two of the people would die, and the third remains in the hospital.
Esteban Saltos, director of ICARO Learn2Fly flight school, spoke to Local 10 News about his flight instructor, 31-year-old Felipe Becerra Cardenas, who died in the crash on Friday.
“He was very passionate for aviation,” said Saltos. “Losing a close friend is tough -- it’s a loss, it’s a big loss and that’s how we feel right now.”
Cardenas was from Mexico and had been an instructor with the aviation academy for the past 10 months.
“He had his instructor license and we are a flight school, so he met all of the requirements,” said Saltos.
Cardenas, along with two other passengers, 23-year-old Shelby Thomas and 25-year-old Jamal Hall, of Georgia, were supposed to be on what is called a discovery flight, where a person pays a pilot to take them on a flight to see if they are interested in getting their pilot’s license, when tragedy struck.
The single-engine Cessna they were in crashed shortly after takeoff.
“(The plane) did a nose down attitude followed by a left turn and impacted the ground between the runways,” said NTSB accident investigator Aaron McCarter. “There was no post-crash fire, but the aircraft was destroyed.”
Thomas died a day later and Hall remains in the hospital.
Thomas was a real estate agent at The Real Estate Concierge LLC in Georgia, and her colleagues are mourning her sudden death. Business owner RaShaunda Muldrow released a statement that read, in part:
“Beyond her exceptional work ethic, Shelby was a cherished friend and a beacon of positivity within our close- knit real estate community. Her empathy and caring nature extended far beyond the walls of our office, reaching out to clients, partners, and community members with a compassionate spirit that will be deeply missed.”
Sky 10 was over the scene moments after the crash, where firefighters were seen crouching by the mangled aircraft, pulling a man out and wheeling him to a waiting rescue truck.
NTSB investigators said they would take the plane to Fort Pierce to further look into what went wrong.
Security footage from the airport will also be looked at to see what happened before and after the crash.
NTSB investigators said they will put out a preliminary crash report in the coming days.