Plane crashes into woods near Bonita golf course; one person dead

One person was reported dead after a plane crashed in a heavily wooded area outside a gated community in southeast Bonita Springs on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

A small, single-engine plane put out a distress call about 13 to 15 minutes after taking off from Page Field near Fort Myers and crashed in the wooded area about a mile and half outside Bonita National Golf & Country Club, according to officials with the Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue District and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s unknown if that plane had any other occupants on it right now," Lee Undersheriff Carmine Marceno said during a news conference Monday. “The search is in a deep-wooded area.” 

Marceno said it appeared the deceased was the pilot. The person had not been identified as of Monday evening.

National Transportation Safety Board officials were notified and responded, Marceno said.

Officials did not give a reason for the distress call.

Authorities received a phone call from a resident of the gated community about 12:30 p.m. in reference to the crash, said Nicole Hornberger, spokeswoman for Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue.

She said residents saw something fall from the sky, heard a crash and called authorities.

On Monday afternoon, crews were conducting “a wide search of the area to see if there was anybody ejected from the actual crash site, aside from the initial deceased human,” said Bonita Springs Fire Chief Joseph Daigle. 

Bulldozers from the Florida Forest Service were assisting fire and police crews by cutting a line through the woods, Daigle said. The plane was capable of transporting two occupants, he said. 

Although crews initially responded to the gated community, the search and rescue efforts later were launched from a dirt access road across from Bonita Fire Station 6, not far from the community, on Bonita Beach Road east of Interstate 75.

No foul play was suspected “at this time,” Marceno said.

“We’re still searching,” he said. “We have a crime scene that’s active. Our investigation is just beginning.”

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