Coral Springs plane crash: Horror as aircraft smashes next to houses and nursery

A small plane crashed in a residential area of Coral Springs, Florida, on Monday as police search for victims. The crash reportedly happened around 10:15am near the 5000 block of Northwest 57th Way, just west of State Road 7 and south of the Sawgrass Expressway. Aerial footage showed the aircraft tearing through a fence and striking trees in a residential backyard before plunging into a man-made pond.

Authorities confirmed no one on the ground was injured, and the number of people on board remains unknown. Coral Springs Fire Rescue officials said that after a prompt response, a dive team conducted a preliminary operation but did not locate any victims.

Coral Springs Deputy Fire Chief Mike Moser said: "We do have our police department here with their divers as well, they'll be conducting a recovery mission shortly.

"We were unable to find any victims or any large pieces of fuselage on our initial dive. We have not found an entire plane yet, we believe that it may be broken into smaller pieces, we don't know yet of course, this is very preliminary."

Police said the scene remains active and the condition of the occupants has not yet been released. Creekside Drive between NW 53rd Drive was closed as crews worked to clear the area.

According to City of Fort Lauderdale officials, the Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop plane departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at 10:14am and was on its way to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to support relief efforts following Hurricane Melissa.

Moser said the aircraft did not hit any homes, adding that the debris field was "quite extensive".

The crash is under investigation by the Coral Springs Police Department, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). No further details were available at the time.