NAPLES, Fla. — The Collier County Sheriff's Office has identified the five occupants of the small jet crash on Interstate 75, including a surviving crew member from Jupiter, as well as two people who died.
Sydney Ann Bosmans, 27, of Jupiter, along with two passengers 35-year-old Aaron Baker and 23-year-old Audra Green, both of Columbus, Ohio, were treated for their injuries at an unnamed local hospital, Scripps WFTX reported Saturday. Originally the sheriff's office listed Bosmans' age as 23.
A witness shot videoshowing the three survivors walking away from the plane.
The two dead are 50-year-old Edward Daniel Murphy of Oakland Park, who was the pilot, and Ian Hofmann, 65, of Pompano Beach, who was the co-pilot. They reported a dual engine failure moments before crashing on the highway.
Hop-a-Jet charter company at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport released a statement to the Naples Daily News, saying it had "received confirmed reports of an accident involving one of our leased aircraft near Naples" and that it would dispatch a team to the crash site.
Beyond and Above Corporate Flight Attendant Training lists Sydney Bosmans, with a Delray Beach address in 2020.
No other information is available on Bosmans, including her injuries.
The National Transportation Safety Administration has launched an investigation to determine why the private jet tried to make an emergency landing on I-75 (Alligator Alley), colliding with a vehicle and sparking a fiery crash at 3:15 p.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Bombardier Challenger 600 jet.
The plane took off from an airport at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, at about 1 p.m. and was scheduled to land in Naples around the time of the crash.
Hofmann's family provided WFTX with a statement about their loved one's passing.
"His last moments, calmly speaking with ATC (air traffic control) as he tried to save the passengers and crew in the face of a desperate emergency of losing both engines at low altitude, is how we will always remember him," the family told WFTX in a statement.
"The family is in shock and devastated but want to express our thanks for the heartfelt support we have received," the family said in a statement to WFTX. "We know our father died a hero doing his best to save everyone he could on the plane. We ask for prayers during this difficult time."
The co-pilot's son, Chris, told WFTX his dad lived in Pompano Beach with his wife.
He said his father "was a hero that was able to get the plane on the ground and save the lives of the passengers and flight attendant."
According to a GoFundMe set up by the family, Ian had over 40 years of experience and 25,000 hours at Piedmont, US Airways and Hop-A-Jet for about two years.
Ian Hofmann is survived by his wife Christina, former wife Joan Mathis, and his children Grant, Chris, Reed and Grace.
All the occupants of the automobiles damaged in the crash survived, Florida Highway Patrol said.
State troopers and emergency crews continue to clean up the scene on southbound I-75, which remains closed in the crash area.
State Troopers & Emergency Crews continue to clean up the plane crash scene on SB I75 MM 106!
— FHP Southwest Florida (@FHPSWFL) February 10, 2024
Reminder for all NB I75 Traffic, stopping on I75 is NOT permitted unless a vehicle is disabled or to render aid in an emergency! Citations are being issued to non compliant motorists! pic.twitter.com/wwCW1lhjYI