At Least One Fatality Reported In Accident

A Piper PA-32 Saratoga enroute from Gainesville, Florida to Fort Laudedale has gone down near the Broward/Palm Beach county line. Four people were reportedly aboard the aircraft at the time of the accident.

Piper PA-32 File Photo

The Miami Herald reports the pilot reported engine problems before going down in a swampy area west of U.S. highway 27 in South Florida. The FAA said it impacted the ground near a levee around 1800 Sunday. One person has been confirmed dead, and the other three are missing.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports the occupants may have been Bruce Barber, 46 a Fort Lauderdale money manager believed to be the pilot of the aircraft, his wife, Karen, and their son, Payton, 14. The fourth person believed on board was Phillip Marsh, 46, of Coral Springs, a family friend. No names have been released. The four had spent the weekend in Gainesville, attending the Florida-Tennessee football game Saturday. The Saratoga is registered to Bull Gator Air Inc, which is owned by Barber.   

Multiple media sources say Broward County Fire and Rescue dispatched an airboat to the scene, but authorities found no survivors. It appeared the plane had nosedived into the swamp.  Miami television station CBS4 reported that FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said the plane left Gainesville at 1613 Sunday, with a scheduled arrival in Fort Lauderdale at about 1802.

FMI: www.ntsb.com