PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Seven people on board a small plane that crashed near the North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport on Thursday have been identified as a family from Indiana.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Joseph Allen, 70, Diane Allen, 70, Joseph Allen, 36, Angela Allen, 38, Logan Allen, 4, Heidi Allen, 2, and Abrams McCarthy, 8, all from Columbus, Indiana, were on board the Cessna 414.
A witness said "the plane did not get off the ground much and was skipping along the runway when it crashed in the grassy area," according to a PBSO incident report.
"The pilot was the dad, the co-pilot was the son and the son was trying to comfort the dad saying, it's ok dad it's not your fault," Logan Hernandez with Palm Beach Avionics said.
All seven victims were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center, along with two witnesses who rushed to the crash scene to help before firefighters arrived.
A hospital spokesperson said three patients are currently in fair condition and two are in critical condition. The others have been released.
"I'm glad that everybody survived, it had to be quite traumatizing for them to be in the aircraft as it was occurring," Capt. Albert Borroto of the Palm Beach County Fire Dept. said.
Flight records indicate the aircraft was heading to Columbus Municipal Airport in Indiana.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Friday it's investigating the cause of the crash.