Truck’s dashcam video shows jet crashing on busy Florida highway before big explosion
A truck’s dashcam captured the moment when a jet crashed on a busy Florida highway, smashing into cars, exploding and killing two of five people on board.
Pilot Edward Daniel Murphy, 50, of Oakland Park, and co-pilot Ian Frederick Hofmann, 65, of Pompano Beach, were killed in the fiery crash Friday, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said.
Crew member Sydney Ann Bosmans, 27, of Jupiter, and passengers Aaron Baker, 35, and Audra Green, 23, of Ohio were injured and taken to the hospital.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, Murphy’s airline transport pilot certification was issued in 2018, allowing him to fly single-engine planes, multi-engine aircraft and helicopters.
The co-pilot’s son, Chris Hofmann, said in his father’s online fundraiser that he was the “ultimate professional pilot” with over 40 years and 25,000 hours of flight experience. He had graduated from Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale, and later from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
“He had a deep, passionate love of aviation,” the son said. “It was all he wanted to do.”
The Bombardier Challenger 600 jet experienced “engine issues” before crashing on Interstate 75 near Naples, according to an FAA incident report.
Moments before the crash, one of the pilots had told the control tower at Naples Municipal Airport, his destination, that the plane was not going to make it to the runway.
“We’ve lost both engines,” the pilot said.
READ MORE: Two dead after small jet with five on board crash lands on I-75 in Florida, cops say
The aircraft, which was flying from Ohio State University Airport, crash-landed around 3:15 p.m. Feb. 9.
Witnesses say it collided with a vehicle — the wing of the plane dragging a car before slamming into a wall. An explosion followed, with flames and black smoke rising from the scene.
An unidentified person in one of the cars on I-75 was seriously injured, according to the FAA.
After shutting down I-75 for hours in both directions, authorities fully reopened the highway Sunday night.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
