Both Aircraft Involved Were Reportedly From The Same Flight School

Three people were fatally injured Tuesday afternoon when the two aircraft they were aboard collided in mid-air over the Everglades and went down in a grassy area of the wilderness.

The Miami Herald reports that the three on board the aircraft have been identified as Jorge Sanchez, 22, Ralph Knight, 72, and Nisha Sejwal, 19. A fourth person may have been aboard one of the aircraft, but that has not been confirmed, and a fourth body has not been located. Initial reports indicated that there were two people on board each aircraft, and the search for the fourth possible fatality picked up at sunrise on Wednesday.

Television station WTVJ reports that both aircraft, a Piper PA-34 and a Cessna 172, had the logo of the Dean International flight school on them.

The planes impacted terrain in a remote area accessible only by airboat. Miami-Dade fire chief Andy Alvarez told the Miami Herald that they had been in that same area the morning of the accident training for just such a scenario.

A friend of Sanchez' told the paper that Sanchez had been on a cross-country flight. He left at about 9:00 a.m. and was expected to return about 1:00 p.m.

FAA records show aircraft from Dean International have been involved in more than two dozen accidents and incidents from 2007-2017, according to the report.

(Images from file. Not accident aircraft)

FMI: Original report, Original report