At a Glance
- The crash killed three crew members.
- Weather may have played a role in the crash.
- One body had been recovered as of Sunday morning.
One body has been recovered after an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane crashed Saturday afternoon into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, as it approached Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Three crew members aboard the twin-engine place at the time of the crash are presumed dead, the Chamber County sheriff told WJTV.
"Knowing what I saw, I don't believe anyone could have survived it," Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told the Houston Chronicle.
Air traffic controllers lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air Flight 3591 shortly before 12:45 p.m. CST. The 767 jetliner was arriving from Miami when the crash occurred 30 miles southeast of the airport, according to a statement by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The sheriff said witnesses told authorities the plane went into a nose dive, then went into the water nose-first.
"There's everything from cardboard boxes to women's clothing and bed sheets," Hawthorne said.
The sheriff said some witnesses reported hearing the plane's engines sputter, while others reported hearing a sound resembling a thunderclap.
At time of the crash, visibility was over 10 miles with scattered clouds at 3,900 ft., according to airlivenet.com.
While the exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined, weather may have played a role in the fatal crash, says weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles.
"The plane was flying through the very southern end of Winter Storm Quiana," said Belles. "The plane may have hit turbulence and/or showers along Quiana's cold front, which was passing through the Houston metro area at the time. The plane would have gone from southwest or south winds before the front to a headwind as it punched through the cold front, which would have resulted in the slowing of the plane regardless of whether or not turbulence was involved.
