‘It was really dark’: 911 caller asks about pilot killed in Everglades plane crash
A woman told a South Florida dispatcher Wednesday it was unusual that a pilot she knew was not returning her calls after taking off in a small plane the day before, her 911 call reveals.
The woman appeared to be unaware that the single-engine Cessna 172 the pilot was in had gone off the radar minutes after taking off from North Perry Airport, southwest of Fort Lauderdale, on Tuesday evening. Her call sparked a multi-agency search for the missing aircraft, ultimately leading first responders to the site of the fatal crash in the Everglades.
Khadim Kebe, 37, of Texas, and Mohamed Badenjki, 51, of North Miami Beach, were found dead Wednesday morning at the crash site, several miles north of where Interstate 75 turns into Alligator Alley, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. Authorities have not said which of the licensed commercial pilots was operating the plane.
The 911 caller told the dispatcher that it was “very unusual” that the pilot she knew had not called her. It was not immediately clear to whom she was referring or how she knew him. State law prohibits authorities from releasing the names of 911 callers.
“He always calls me when he lands,” she said.
The caller told the dispatcher that the pilot had texted her a photo during the flight.
“It was really dark,” she said.
The caller told the dispatcher she was on a work trip in California and thus was unable to go to the man’s home and check on him.
“I want to know if he made it back,” she said.
Plane crashes in the Everglades
The plane the men were in took off from North Perry Airport, 101 SW 77th Way in Pembroke Pines, around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement. It went off the radar over the Everglades 13 minutes later, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. It was headed to Naples Municipal Airport, the NTSB said.
But it was not until 10:30 a.m. Wednesday that Broward deputies and firefighters were alerted about the missing aircraft, last detected near mile marker 28 of I-75, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
READ MORE: Broward officials identify two men killed after small plane crashes in the Everglades
The plane, ripped into pieces, was spotted about three miles north of I-75 in wetlands, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane said Wednesday. BSO firefighters and marine units launched airboats immediately after hearing about the crash, reaching the site at 11:18 a.m., he said.
The men appeared to have been dead for “quite a while,” Kane told the Herald.
FAA, NTSB investigating
It is unclear when or why the airplane, built in 1977, crashed.
“Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances,” a Federal Aviation Administration incident notice read Thursday.
The FAA told the Herald it had sent an alert about the missing plane after 11 p.m. Tuesday, but the agency did not say why it was sent or which agencies had received it. Representatives from the Broward Sheriff’s Office and North Perry Airport said Thursday that they were unaware of such an alert.
“As far as I can tell, the alert would not come to us,” said Miranda Grossman, a Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. “North Perry Airport did not receive the FAA alert you reference,” Broward County Aviation Department spokeswoman Arlene Satchell told the Herald in an email Thursday.
READ MORE: Crash of a small plane in the Everglades kills two men, Broward fire rescue says
ATA Flight School, a North Perry Airport-based flight school linked to the doomed plane, did not respond Thursday to emails or a call from the Herald.
According to FAA and state records, the owner of the plane, with the tail number N737VC, is Florida General Aviation Corp. of Pembroke Pines. Kiria Martinez, the person listed as the company’s president, declined to comment. She is also listed as the president of the flight school.
A preliminary crash report is expected in a few weeks, the NTSB said in a statement.
“The wreckage was spread over an area of about 150 yards,” the NTSB said. “All major components of the airplane were recovered and have been transported to a secure facility in Jacksonville for further examination by NTSB investigators this weekend.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
