Horrifying moment two pilots are killed when plane crashes during gender reveal party in Cancun watched by the expectant parents and terrified guests below
- The Cessna 206 had made a swooping turn over the party boat with a sign to reveal that the couple were having a baby girl
- But after the aircraft moved through the apex of its turn, it appeared to rapidly lose power and plunged towards the lagoonamid cries of terror
- Emergency services rushed to the aircraft where they found the pilot and co-pilot inside
- One of the pilots died while they were carrying out rescue efforts, while the other died as paramedics provided first aid on dry land
Two people have been killed after a plane nosedived and crashed into the sea during a gender reveal party in Cancun, Mexico.
The expectant couple and their guests were filming the small propeller plane from a boat and were heard shouting, ‘It’s a girl,’ before shrieking in horror as the aircraft plunged into the Nichupte lagoon.
The Cessna 206 had made a swooping turn over the party boat with a sign to reveal that the couple were having a baby girl on Tuesday afternoon.
But after the aircraft moved through the apex of its turn, it appeared to rapidly lose power and fell headlong towards the water amid cries of terror from the spectating party.
Emergency services rushed to the plane where they found the pilot and co-pilot inside. One of the pilots died during the rescue effort, while the other died as paramedics provided first aid on dry land.
The aircraft was seen swooping over the party boat before it lost power and plunged headfirst towards the water off the coast of Cancun on Tuesday
The crowd can be heard cheering, ‘It’s a girl,’ as the plane makes it way over the boat
The plane hurtles towards the lagoon, left, and crashes into the water, right
Investigators transfer the bodies of two victims of the plane crash in the city of Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on Tuesday evening
Members of the Navy guard the area where the plane crashed, near the city of Cancun
Forensics teams take evidence ashore on Tuesday following the rescue operation
Local media variously reported that there had been between two and four passengers aboard the plane.
The plane had taken off from Holbox, around 40 miles northwest of Cancun along the coast, and made its flypast over the hotel district of the Mexican city.
It had been rented for the party from a company called Xomex, local media reported, with some referring to the plane as an ‘air taxi.’
Just before the plane started to make its approach, one of the people on the party boat could be heard joking: ‘It’s all good as long as it doesn’t end up crashing into us.’
The atmosphere changed rapidly as the plane started to decelerate before falling into the water.
The plane was a Cessna 206 (stock picture)
The cameraman reacts to the crash, saying ‘surely this can’t be happening’ whilst others can be heard screaming.
Members of the armed forces, national guard, police, firefighters, paramedics and volunteers on jet skis rushed to help rescue the passengers.
But later bodies were seen been carried ashore in white sheets stained with blood.
The civil aviation agency has opened a probe into the cause of the crash.