Mexican Navy medical flight lost communication for several minutes before Texas crash

Air traffic controllers lost communication for about 10 minutes with a small Mexican Navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven others before it crashed off the Texas coast, killing at least five people, Mexico's president said Tuesday.

Authorities initially believed the plane had landed safely at its destination in Galveston, near Houston, before learning it had gone down Monday afternoon, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. A search-and-rescue operation in waters near Galveston pulled two survivors from the plane's wreckage, while one remained missing, Mexico's Navy said.

U.S. authorities are investigating the cause, but the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that it could take a week or more to recover the aircraft,

Four Mexican Navy officers and four civilians, including a child, were aboard the plane, according to the country's military. Two of the passengers were affiliated with a nonprofit that helps transport Mexican children with severe burns to a hospital in Galveston.

''My condolences to the families of the sailors who unfortunately died in this accident and to the people who were traveling on board,'' Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing, without elaborating on a possible cause. ''What happened is very tragic.''

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.

The twin turboprop Beech King Air 350i crashed Monday afternoon in a bay near the base of the causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.

''I couldn't believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in," he said. "And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.''

He said he also pulled out a man seated in front of her who had already died. Both were wearing civilian clothes.

It's not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area was experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.

Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were at the crash site Monday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. An NTSB spokesperson said in an email that investigators will gather flight track data, recordings of any air traffic control communications and review maintenance records and weather forecasts, with a preliminary report expected within 30 days.

Mexico's Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation. In a social media post, the foundation offered condolences to the families and said it shared their grief ''with respect and compassion.''

The charity's director didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Shriners Children's Texas said in a statement that it learned of the crash with ''profound sadness'' but wasn't able to provide any information about the child's condition because the child hadn't yet been admitted.

This latest crash comes amid a year of intense scrutiny on aviation safety after a string of high-profile crashes and the flight disruptions during the government shutdown driven by the shortage of air traffic controllers.