The Beech King Air 350i had departed Mérida in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It was operating under the Navy's Plan Marina humanitarian programme in coordination with the Michou y Mau Foundation, which arranges transport for Mexican children with severe burns to Shriners Children's hospital in Galveston. Four Navy personnel and four civilians were aboard, including a two-year-old patient.
The plane went down at about 3:15 p.m. in West Galveston Bay, west of the causeway, during final approach. Police said the wreckage settled in roughly four to five feet of water. Heavy fog covered the area. A National Weather Service meteorologist reported about half a mile of visibility around 2:30 p.m., while other local observations put visibility at a quarter-mile or less. Investigators had not determined whether weather caused or contributed to the crash.
The conditions complicated the first response. Yacht captain Sky Decker said he took two police officers by boat through thick fog to the almost submerged aircraft. He entered the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and debris, with only a small pocket of air above water contaminated by aviation fuel. He also recovered a man who had died.
The US Coast Guard initially released lower fatality figures while recovery operations were developing. Mexico's Navy later reported five confirmed deaths, two survivors and one missing person. That updated count is used here. Shriners Children's said the child had been travelling for burn care and expressed condolences, while the foundation honoured those killed and reaffirmed its medical mission.
Galveston police, firefighters, the Coast Guard and the county sheriff's dive, drone, crime-scene and patrol units responded. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board sent personnel, and the NTSB said it was gathering information. No identities beyond the child's age were confirmed in the supplied reports.
The route was not unusual for the medical programme. Galveston's airport director said the aircraft typically visited about six times a year carrying patients to area hospitals. That routine humanitarian link made the crash particularly stark: a flight intended to bring specialised treatment ended within sight of its destination.
Determining why will require examination of the aircraft, flight data, crew actions, approach conditions and weather. Until investigators publish findings, the dense fog is a documented circumstance rather than a proven cause. The immediate record is narrower and certain: five lives lost, two people pulled from the bay, and a continuing search for the eighth occupant.
