Only Two Survive After Medical Plane Crashes into West Galveston Bay • Five Confirmed Dead, One Missing Presumed Deceased A relative of a young burn patient and a nurse are the only survivors of a medical transport flight that crashed into West Galveston Bay on Monday (12/22/2025), Mexican officials confirmed. Three members of the Mexican Navy, a young burn patient, and a doctor were killed in the crash. A fourth member of the Navy aircraft crew is missing and presumed dead, the Secretariat of the Navy in Mexico said in a written statement. “The aircraft was carrying out a humanitarian mission focused on specialized medical transport, with eight people on board: four naval crew members and four civilians,” the Mexican Navy said in the statement. The King Air ANX 1209 aircraft was transporting a young burn victim from Mexico to Shriners Texas Children’s Hospital in Galveston when it crashed into the bay while on approach to Scholes International Airport. There were eight people aboard the plane on approach to Galveston Scholes International Airport in fog when it ended up in the bay, about 2 miles west of the Galveston Mitchell Causeway. Local officials confirmed that all those on the plane had been pulled from the wreckage. Those confirmed deceased are patient Federico Efraín Ramírez Cruz, Dr. Juan Alfonso Adame González, Lieutenant Víctor Rafael Pérez Hernández, Lieutenant Juan Iván Zaragoza Flores, and Lieutenant Luis Enrique Castillo Terrones. Missing, but presumed dead, is Mexican Navy aviation sailor Guadalupe Flores Barranco. The survivors are Julia Aracelis Cruz Vera, who is believed to be the mother of the young boy who was killed. The other survivor was nurse Miriam de Jesús Rosas Mancilla. Officials with the Mexican Consulate were in Galveston coordinating with federal and state officials. i45NOW witnessed four people, including a small child, being placed in ambulances and taken to the trauma center at UTMB Health’s John Sealy Hospital. The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office lead investigator, John Florence, was on scene. A tent that served as a temporary death investigation area was set up on the dock near a small bait camp at the base of the causeway. The crash occurred at about 3 PM during heavy fog. The Mexican Navy plane was carrying one patient for the Michou y Mau Foundation of Mexico. The foundation regularly transports burn victims to Shriners Children’s Texas Hospital in Galveston. Officials with Shriners expressed “sadness” about the crash, confirming that a child on board was being transported to the hospital in Galveston for care. Because the child was not yet under their care, the hospital was unable to provide further details. Multiple agencies responded, including the Galveston Fire Department, fire crews from Santa Fe Fire and Rescue, the Galveston Police Department, the Galveston Island Beach Patrol, the Jamaica Beach Fire Department Marine Rescue Unit, the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The dive teams from the Galveston Police Department and Galveston County Sheriff’s Office were also part of the search. Also responding to the crash site were Sky Decker, his 11-year-old son Vaughn, and their neighbors. The four happened to be on Decker’s boat when they heard of the plane crash. They assisted some Galveston police officers in reaching the scene and helped rescue one of the people on board. Decker jumped into the water with the officers and firefighters to pull people from the wreckage. He said a woman he rescued was asking about her child; he assumed the child was the one being taken to Shriners. The plane crashed in water that was relatively shallow near Channel Marker 6, which is about 2 miles west of the Galveston Mitchell Causeway in West Galveston Bay. Water in that area is between 5 and 6 feet deep. Decker said the crash site was about a mile away from his house, located on Teichman Point in Galveston. Decker said the incident reminded him of a time when he, too, as a child, was involved in a plane crash. What led to the plane crash is under investigation and will be handled by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, said Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Stephen Woodard. The FAA did not respond to i45NOW inquiries about the crash on Monday. Galveston Assistant Fire Chief Mike Molis said the foggy conditions hampered finding the downed plane and getting to the crash site. It took nearly an hour after the first report of the crash before first responders arrived at the crash location. At about 8 PM, all those on the plane had been extracted, and first responders cleared the scene. The plane was on approach to Scholes International Airport when flight controllers lost contact, officials said.

Posted by i45NOW TJ Aulds at 2025-12-22 22:49:56 UTC