1 Dead, 5 Injured After Plane Crashes on Miami Bridge, Hits Car and Catches Fire

MIAMI (Miami Herald/TNS) — One person was killed and five others were injured, including two toddlers, after a small plane crash-landed on a bridge near Haulover Park on Saturday afternoon, striking a car and bursting into flames, authorities said.

Narciso Torres, a 36-year-old Miami International Airport traffic controller, died in the wreckage, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said. Torres had worked with the Federal Aviation Administration for more than a decade at various airports.

“This is a terrible tragedy that has sent shock waves throughout our NATCA family,” NATCA President Rich Santa said in a statement.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of those involved in the crash.

The single-engine Cessna 172 lost engine power and landed on the Haulover Inlet Bridge around 1 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane had taken off from Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International Airport with three people on board headed for Key West International Airport.

A woman and two toddlers were in a car driving on the bridge when the plane made the emergency landing, Miami-Dade police said. After a head-on collision with the car, the plane flipped and became engulfed in flames. Another car was clipped in the crash.

Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said it was “miraculous” that the woman with the children emerged from the collision with no serious injuries.

When Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived, two of the three plane passengers were already outside of the aircraft. After firefighters put out the blaze, they found a person dead inside the plane, police said.

The woman and children were in good, stable condition and taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center as a precaution.

One person was taken by helicopter to Ryder Trauma Center and another person was taken to Aventura Hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Due to fuel runoff from the crash, the Department of Environmental Resources Management was called to the scene at Collins Avenue and 108th Street, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said.

A bridge inspection company and workers with the Florida Department of Transportation were also on site Saturday, Zabaleta said. It was too early to determine if the bridge had been damaged, he said.

“I’m sure city officials and the proper authorities are going to diagnose that and look that over,” he said.

The bridge spans the inlet where Biscayne Bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It is just north of Bal Harbour, Surfside and Miami Beach, and south of Haulover Park and Sunny Isles Beach.

Until the plane is moved and the roads are cleaned of debris, street closures are causing heavy traffic jams.

About 8 miles of Collins Avenue from 96 Street to 163 Street is closed to traffic in both directions, Zabaleta said.

“We understand that it is causing major traffic gridlock and we apologize for that…” he said.

Roads are anticipated to be closed for several hours and into the night as the FAA and NTSB remove the airplane from the bridge.

Bal Harbour Manager Jorge Gonzalez said that the crash is having a ripple effect on traffic in the Miami Beach and Northeast Miami-Dade areas.

“It is going to be a challenge for some time,” Gonzalez said. “The traffic grid is very fragile. An accident like this will have repercussions throughout Northeast Dade.”