CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — A Christian missionary father and his daughter are being mourned after they were identified as the victims in Monday’s plane crash in Coral Springs.
Ministry organization Ignite the Fire identified the two victims of the Monday morning crash as the group’s founder, Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena Wurm, 22, both of the Cayman Islands.
The pair were bringing humanitarian aid to Jamaica, according to the organization, when the Beechcraft King Air plane they were flying in crashed into a pond in a residential area, narrowly missing homes, just before 10:20 a.m.
Ignite the Fire is “dedicated to empowering youth through missions and evangelism across the Caribbean,” according to the organization’s website. A statement on the group’s social media described the Wurm family as passionate about humanitarian work and their Christian faith.
“Together, their final journey embodied selflessness and courage, reminding us of the power of service and love,” the statement reads, adding, “Rest in peace, Alexander and Serena — your light endures in all whose lives you changed.”
The turboprop plane went down shortly after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at approximately 10:14 a.m. on Monday, authorities said, with police and fire rescue responding to the crash site just five minutes later.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was manufactured in 1976 and its registered owner is listed as International Air Services, a company that markets itself as specializing in providing trust agreements to non-U.S. citizens that enable them to register their aircraft with the FAA. A person who answered the company’s phone Monday afternoon declined to answer questions from a reporter, stating “no comment” and ending the phone call.
Posts by Alexander Wurm on social media in recent days suggested the evangelist had recently acquired the plane to further his missionary work across the Caribbean, describing the aircraft as “an older King Air with brand new engines,” and “perfect” to ferry his organization’s deliveries of generators, batteries and building materials to Jamaica.
“I’ve been a pilot since 2005 and I felt that the Ignite ministry should have a missions airplane if it wanted to effectively bless the Caribbean!” Wurm wrote in a social media post on Nov. 2.
“Perfect for the mission to bring relief goods into Montego Bay and the plane is ready just in time!” he added.
Photos and videos on social media show Wurm posing for a picture in the plane’s cockpit and unloading boxes of supplies from the packed aircraft with teams of volunteers. Alexander Wurm is survived by his wife and two other children.
Residents of the neighborhood where the plane went down held a candlelight vigil for the father and daughter on Tuesday evening.
“I went out to see if I could save or rescue somebody,” said resident Hermann Schnell. “I couldn’t find a plane. There was no plane. Nothing visible.”
The flight tracking website FlightAware shows the plane made four other trips to or from Jamaica in the past week, traveling between George Town in the Cayman Islands and Montego Bay and Negril in Jamaica, before landing in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
The Coral Springs Police Department has said there would continue to be a significant police presence at the crash site Tuesday as investigators collect evidence. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash.
It’s not yet clear what led up to the crash. No one on the ground was injured.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
