Three killed in midair collision of two planes

Miami – Dade Police have identified three people who died when two small planes collided over the Everglades , Florida, US .A search is expected to resume Wednesday morning for a possible fourth victim .

Daniel Miralles , an eye – witness said he and his friend were out fishing when the crash happened around 1 o ’ clock in the afternoon on Tuesday , reports CBS Miami .

He took cell phone video , which captured debris falling from the sky following the collision .

“ Imagine an 18 – wheeler going 100 miles an hour and colliding into a wall . That’ s what it sounded like , ” said Miralles .

“ Out of nowhere , we hear a semi pass by and then we hear this big explosion so in our heads we ’ re thinking the semi truck crashed and we look up and all you see is this giant ball of flame, ” said Gary Winthorpe , who was fishing with Miralles . “ You see one spinning , falling down and you see the other one engulfed in flames falling down . ”

Chopper 4 was over the scene where the planes went down south of Tamiami Trail a few miles west of Krome Avenue at mile marker 23 .

Nearly 30 Miami Dade Fire Rescue units were dispatched to the scene where rescuers had to use an airboat to reach the remote area where the planes were .

“ We were able to confirm that we do have 3 deceased , there could be a possible 4 th , ” said Miami – Dade Police Department Det. Alvaro Zabaleta .

“ The two planes were possibly training which leads us to believe you had a pilot and a trainer , or trainer and student and another plane a trainer and a student . That ’ s why we ’ re thinking there may be a 4 th person . ”

Miami – Dade Police confirm the three people who died were 73 – year – old Ralph Knight , 20 -year – old Nisha Sejwal and 23 –year – old Jorge Sanchez.

A friend tells us he ’ s a flight instructor from Dean International , a flight school based at Executive Airport.

Rescuers located a Piper Seneca just south of Tamiami Trail , close to where Miami Dade search and rescue set up their command centre . A Cessna was a little further away.

“ Approximately 300 to 400 hundred yards south- east of the initial crash site that we found , air rescue , ” said Miami – Dade Fire Marine Chief Andy Alvarez. “ We were able to locate a secondary aircraft following the debris . ”

The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board .

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