GALVESTON, Texas – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report on the fatal Mexican Navy plane crash in Galveston Bay on Dec. 22, 2025.
Six people were killed in the crash and two others survived, but sustained serious injuries.
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The Beechcraft B300 plane was part of a humanitarian medical mission tied to the Michou y Mau Foundation, transporting patients in need of specialized care.
One of the passengers was a child burn patient headed to Galveston’s Shriners Hospital.
The report released Friday details radio traffic, elevation, and conditions during the plane’s flight from Merida, Mexico to where it ultimately crashed in West Galveston Bay.
A map released as part of the report shows the plane flew up into Galveston Bay before making a U-turn and flying back on its approach to Galveston’s Scholes International Airport.
While the report itself doesn’t list a preliminary cause of the crash, it does mention there was heavy fog in the area and visibilities were 1/4 of a mile with vertical visibility of 200 feet at the time of the crash.
“Witnesses near the accident reported hearing an airplane over flying their location. One witness reported that he heard the sound of the airplane’s engine ‘pull back’ and then go to full power as if they were going to attempt a go-around before the sound stopped. Other witnesses who were on a boat, briefly heard, and then saw the airplane overfly their location, followed by a sound consistent with the airplane impacting the water,” the report states.
The report states the crash location was in about 5-10 feet of water, approximately 1/2 mile from the shoreline.
The last recorded data showed the aircraft at an elevation of 275 feet about three miles northwest of the airport before contact was lost.