Helicopter Pilot Reported He Could Only Turn Left Before Boca Raton Crash That Killed 3: NTSB
Three people died in a small plane crash in Boca Raton, Fla. on Friday, April 11
A report issued Wednesday, May 7, from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that one of the pilots on board reported a rudder problem
The flight was the first after the plane's annual inspection
The plane first drifted left, then made a 180-degree left turn, followed by a series of 360-degree left turns
The three passengers killed were a 17-year-old girl, her father, and her grandfather
Authorities have identified a new development surrounding the April 11 small plane crash in Boca Raton, Fla., that left three people dead.
A preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reveals that one of the pilots on board reported a rudder problem and said the plane was only able to turn left before the aircraft crashed in a shocking blaze.
ADVERTISEMENT
The flight was the first after the plane's annual inspection, but the aircraft drifted immediately to the left upon takeoff. The plane then made a 180-degree left turn, followed by a series of 360-degree left turns, the report said.
A Google Earth image provided by the NTSB showed the path of the doomed flight.
A Google Earth image of the Boca Raton plane crash
A Cessna 310 plane carrying the three passengers left the Boca Raton Airport en route to the Tallahassee International Airport on Friday, April 11. The plane reported having mechanical issues before the accident.
The plane took off about 10 a.m., then around 10:12 a.m., the Boca Raton fire and police dispatch received a call for a plane in trouble. Eight minutes later, the aircraft had a terrifying crash near I-95 and Glades Road.
Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty A small plane crash in Boca Raton on Friday, April 11, 2025.
Then, just before 11 a.m., Boca Raton Fire Rescue announced that responding units were on the scene and warned of road closures.
ADVERTISEMENT
The three passengers died in the crash, the Boca Raton Police Department said in a statement. The victims were identified as Brooke Stark, 17, Stephen Stark, 54, and Robert Stark, 81. Stephen was Brooke's father and Robert was her grandfather, according to NBC 6.
Pablo Tafur, 24, who was in a 2017 Toyota Prius when the car lost control amid the plane crash and collided into a tree, was hospitalized but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Marta Lavandier/AP Emergency personnel remove the bodies of those killed when a small plane crashed on the railroad tracks beneath the overpass near Interstate 95 in Boca Raton, Fla., on Friday, April 11, 2025.
'We are deeply saddened to confirm that a plane crash occurred earlier today within our community,' Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer said in a statement, according to CNN.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
'Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic event. We ask for patience and respect for the families involved as investigations continue.'
PEOPLE reached out to the NTSB, and a representative confirmed that there is no further information beyond the public report available at this time.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Feared King Charles 'Blocked' Kids' Passports Over HRH Titles, Considered Name Change: Report
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly explored the idea of changing their family name amid a prolonged delay in receiving passports for their children. Harry, 40, consulted his uncle Charles Spencer about the possibility of using the Spencer surname during the impasse, according to The Guardian. The U.K. outlet reports that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had grown 'exasperated' over the repeated delays — with the passports for Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, arriving nearly six months after the initial application. Standard processing time is typically around three weeks. 'There was clear reluctance to issue passports for the kids,' a source close to the Sussexes said, according to the outlet. A source confirms to PEOPLE that the delay was significantly longer than normal. A legal source also told The Guardian that government officials were allegedly 'dragging their feet because the passport applications included the titles HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) for both children.' A source claimed to The Guardian that 'the King hadn't wanted Archie and Lili to carry the titles, most of all the HRH, and the British passports, once created, would be the first and perhaps the only legal proof of their names'. Buckingham Palace strongly denied the claim that the King or his officials had any role in the delay, The Daily Telegraph reports. The source added to The Guardian, 'Harry was at a point where British passports for his children with their updated Sussex surnames (since the death of Queen Elizabeth II) were being blocked with a string of excuses over the course of five months.' 'Out of sheer exasperation he went to his uncle to effectively say: 'My family are supposed to have the same name and they're stopping that from happening because the kids are legally HRH, so if push comes to shove, if this blows up and they won't let the kids be called Sussex, then can we use Spencer as a surname?'' Harry did meet and speak with his late mother's brother, Charles Spencer, about the possibility of using the family name, PEOPLE confirms. However, a source denies reports published last weekend that Spencer advised against the change or that it would be legally 'insurmountable,' calling those claims inaccurate. A spokesperson for the Duke told PEOPLE, 'We do not comment on private issues pertaining to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's children.' The passports were eventually issued to the couple shortly after the Sussexes' lawyers wrote to the U.K. Home Office, threatening to file a data subject access request — a legal move that could have revealed internal discussions or decisions behind the delay. According to The Guardian, Prince Archie previously held both U.K. and U.S. passports under the Mountbatten-Windsor surname until the more recent application. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meghan Markle Is 'Very Business' About Royal Rift as Prince Harry is 'Left Out of the Details' in England (Exclusive)
Meghan Markle is looking ahead while Prince Harry remains emotionally tethered to his royal past, a source tells PEOPLE A source close to the couple says they're being left out of royal conversations entirely, despite being aware of what's happening in England Amid King Charles' cancer diagnosis and Harry's recent public plea, insiders say reconciliation remains stalled by a lack of trustMeghan Markle and Prince Harry are united in their support of each other, but they view the deep divide with the royal family from different perspectives. "They're aware of everything going on in England, but they're being left out of the details — there's clearly no trust," a source close to the couple tells PEOPLE in this week's exclusive cover story. Meghan, who is focused on the future, while Harry has one foot in the past, "is very business about it," the source says. Through it all, Meghan stands firmly by Harry's side — supporting him through his ongoing lawsuits and the painful rift with his family, but an insider says Meghan wishes her husband could feel less burdened by the past and more present in the life they've built together. The rift between Prince Harry and his father King Charles is five years deep and remains one of the most painful fractures in Charles' reign. Amid the King's cancer diagnosis and Harry's increasingly candid public pleas, the silence between them speaks volumes. "I don't know how much longer my father has," Harry told the BBC on May 2 after losing a legal appeal to restore his automatic police protection in the U.K. But it was a more personal admission that landed harder: "He won't speak to me." The father and son were briefly on the same continent in late May, when King Charles, 76, traveled to Canada to attend the State Opening of Parliament, but emotionally remain worlds apart. The man the King once called his "darling boy" was meant to be "one of his reliable lieutenants he could call on to support the monarchy" says royal historian Dr. Ed Owens, author of After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?, but that vision never came to fruition. Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties and moved to Montecito, California in 2020 amid mounting tensions that became public. The rift deepened with bombshell interviews, their Netflix docuseries and Harry's best-selling memoir Spare, which alleged a physical altercation with his brother, Prince William. While William remains estranged from Harry and Meghan, some royal observers believe it's King Charles, as head of the Church of England and a longtime advocate for unity, who should make the first move. But inside palace walls, hesitation reigns. At times, there has been a desire to reconnect — but "the underlying issue is trust," says royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. "The King and William don't trust Harry and Meghan with any kind of confidential conversation." Insiders add that the King isn't surrounded by voices encouraging reconciliation. Prince William, 42, has shown no interest in extending an olive branch, while Queen Camilla — sharply criticized in Spare — "stays out of it," says a source. Even senior aides including Clive Alderton, who was also named in Harry's memoir, are unlikely to encourage outreach. "There is not a good angel in his ear to say, 'Be a good dad and make the first move,' " says Valentine Low, author of the upcoming book Power and the Harry's plea for peace, his BBC comments were widely seen as another blow. "It wasn't meant to be an attack, but it would be seen as one," says Low. "It makes Charles reaching out even harder." The King's weekly cancer treatments add further urgency to the idea of healing the relationship before it's too late. "It's been difficult for him to even get proper updates about his dad," the source says, underscoring just how deep the divide has become. "If you have that level of breach in a family, and you are estranged, you run that risk every day of having something unfathomable to deal with," says Catherine Mayer, author of Charles: The Heart of a King. Even before recent events, Charles and Harry's bond was complicated. Harry, the son of a broken marriage, lost his mother, Princess Diana, in tragic and public circumstances when he was 12. Amid the rift with his father, Harry spoke with his uncle Charles Spencer about changing his family's last name to Princess Diana's surname, Spencer, but was told the legal challenges would be insurmountable. That decision would directly affect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! "There is so much baggage there that the idea that one meeting would resolve everything is ridiculous," Mayer tells PEOPLE. "But having some contact would seem better than none." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mountaineer, 41, Dies After Falling 3,000 ft. onto 'Exposed, Rocky' Face of Mt. McKinley amid 'High Winds and Snow'
A 41-year-old mountaineer, identified as Alex Chiu from Seattle, died after falling 3,000 ft. from a climbing route on Alaska's Mt. McKinley on June 2 His body was recovered two days later on Wednesday, June 4 The NPS noted that rangers were "unable to access the accident site" immediately due to "high winds and snow"The body of a mountaineer from Seattle who fell to his death earlier this week was recently recovered from North America's highest mountain. The National Park Service (NPS) shared in a press release that the mountaineer, identified as 41-year-old Alex Chiu from Seattle, died after falling 3,000 ft. from a climbing route on Alaska's Mount McKinley, which is also known as Denali. Two people who had been with Chiu on his expedition reported on Monday, June 2, that the 41-year-old, who had been unroped at the time, had fallen at a location known as Squirrel Point towards the Peters Glacier. The glacier is described as 'an exposed, rocky and serac-covered 3000-foot face,' per the NPS. After witnessing the fall, Chiu's two companions 'lowered over the edge as far as possible,' but were unable to 'see or hear' him. They then made their way down the West Buttress route of Denali, seeking 'additional help' before ultimately heading to Denali Camp 1, which is located at around 7,800 ft. up the mountain. 'Due to high winds and snow, ground and air search was unable to access the accident site until the early morning hours of June 4,' the NPS said. The weather eventually cleared on the north side of the Alaska Range, which allowed two mountaineering rangers to depart from Talkeetna to conduct an aerial helicopter search to locate and recover Chiu's body, according to the NPS. The agency did not say where his body was found. After recovering the body, the rangers returned to Denali National Park and Preserve headquarters, where Chiu's body was then transferred to the state medical examiner. The NPS noted that a similar accident had happened before on Denali in 2010, in a similar location. That incident involved an unroped French mountaineer, who fell to his death on the Peters Glacier. However, in that incident, the French mountaineer's body was never recovered. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. There are currently about 500 climbers on Denali, as it is the middle of peak climbing season on the mountain, the NPS said in their release. The climbing season 'typically begins in early May and ends in early July,' the agency said. According to the NPS website, Denali rises 20,310 ft. above sea level, making it the tallest mountain in North America. The mountain's nickname, 'Denali' means 'the high one' in Native American languages, and refers to the long arc of mountains near Alaska's southern coast. The NPS noted that the mountain is extremely challenging to climb due to its weather, as mountaineers are often exposed to extreme cold temperatures. The agency also noted that mountaineers must also deal with altitude sickness due to the high elevation levels of the mountain. Read the original article on People
