Atlas Air 767 crashes on approach killing three

An Atlas Air 767 travelling from Miami (MIA / KMIA) to Houston (IAH / KIAH) that crashed yesterday in Texas with three people aboard went into shallow water nose first, Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said.  He said some human remains have been recovered but didn't specify whether three bodies had been found.  Hawthorne said the crash site in Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, is in water just 5 feet (1.52 Metres) deep and is reachable by airboats and other flat-bottom craft. The scene extends over 3 miles (4.8 klm's), he said. Multiple dive teams from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Houston Police, and the Baytown Police are at the crash site, he added.

The sheriff described seeing the contents of packages and cardboard boxes as he traveled across the water, then seeing parts of the twin-engine Boeing 767. The flight was operated by Amazon Prime Air and was operated by Atlas Air aircraft .

"There was nothing intact of the airplane," he said. "Knowing what I saw, I don't think anyone could survive it." He said about six people saw the plane go into the water. Some said it sounded like the engines were "surging," the sheriff said. "There's no doubt he was having some kind of problem with the airplane, according to the eyewitnesses," the sheriff said. "Then it turned and went into a nosedive." The 767 was in a normal descent as it approached George Bush Intercontinental Airport, then went into a "very, very rapid descent" at 6,300 feet, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters. Atlas Air said the three people on the plane "and their family members are our top priority at this time." The operator said it was cooperating with federal investigators. Atlas Air said it operated the plane on behalf of Amazon. It was traveling from Miami to Houston when it went down about 40 miles (64 klm's) southeast of the airport.

Aircraft Details

Airline: Atlas Air

Code: 5Y / GTI

Aircraft: Boeing 767-375

Registration: N1217A

Serial Number: 25865

Engines: 2 x GE CF6-80C2B6F

First Flew: 21/04/1992

Age: 26 Yrs 8 Mths

Below is the history of the aircraft

21/04/1992	Canadian Airlines	C-GCAW
16/07/1992	GPA	EI-CFR
04/11/1992	China Southern Airlines	B-2561
01/01/1997	LAN Chile	CC-CRG
23/07/2004	LAN Airlines	CC-CRG
01/01/2009	LAN Argentina	LV-BTE
10/09/2010	LAN Airlines	CC-CRG
27/01/2016	Atlas Air	N258CT
05/04/2016	Atlas Air	N631GT
08/04/2017	Atlas Air	N1217A

Thoughts and prayers go out to the immediate family and friends and of course the staff at Atlas Air.

Story sourced from below with some personal additions.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/23/us/texas-atlas-air-cargo-jet-crash/index.html