Police: 4 Dead in Plane Crash Off Florida’s Gulf Coast

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over the Venice Fishing Pier on April 6, 2023, as emergency crews search a debris field in the Gulf of Mexico after a small airplane crash Wednesday night. Mike Lang/Sarasota Herald-Tribune via AP

VENICE, Fla.—The bodies of two men and two women have been recovered following a small plane crash just off Florida’s Gulf Coast, police said Thursday.

The plane had just taken off from Venice Airport when it crashed into the Gulf of Mexico west of the city’s fishing pier just after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Venice police said in a news conference.