VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A flight instructor and a passenger were killed Wednesday when a small airplane crashed in the woods east of Lake Ashby in Osteen, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The fatal crash was reported around 6 p.m., about a mile north of the end of Lopez Road.
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A helicopter located the wreckage and led authorities through thick brush and swampy marsh to the plane.
Sheriff’s officials initially said the pilot was the only person aboard the aircraft but later learned that a flight instructor and a passenger were in the plane when it took off around 4:30 p.m. from Spruce Creek Fly-In.
The sheriff’s office identified the pilot as Miroslav D. Velickovich, 61, from Georgia and the passenger as Miguel Duarte, 34, who was part of the Peruvian Air Force.
“Because the downed airplane was heavily damaged and upside down, it was impossible to immediately confirm the number of occupants. It was initially believed only one person was on board,” officials said in a news release.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the plane was on an aerobatic training flight when it crashed.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was a single-engine MXR Technologies MX2 out of Tybee Island, Georgia.
The names of the victims have not been released.
The cause and circumstances of the crash will be determined by the FAA and the NTSB.
Check back for updates.
No information has been released about the pilot or what caused the crash.
— Ezzy Castro (@EzzyCastro) August 25, 2022
Deputies said the FAA & the NTSB have been contacted to investigate the crash and are expected to come out to the scene later today.
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