Pilot and passenger who were killed in fiery Broward plane crash identified
Authorities have identified the two people killed and one person injured in a deadly plane crash at North Perry Airport last week.
Pilot Felipe Becerra Cardenas, a 31-year-old from Pembroke Pines, and passenger Shelby Thomas, a 23-year-old from Port Wentworth, Georgia, were killed Saturday, Pembroke Pines police said.
Jamal Hall, a 25-year-old from Decatur, Georgia, was another passenger on the flight and was injured. He is still receiving medical treatment.
Cardenas was set to take the two Georgia residents on a “discovery flight” at the time of the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
It’s a type of flight designed to spur a person’s interest in taking flying lessons, added Aaron McCarter, an NTSB air safety investigator.
Shortly after taking off at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, the plane crashed in between the runways. Cardenas was killed at the scene and Thomas died at the hospital.
McCarter and the NTSB are looking into what caused the crash, which has not yet been determined. The high heat South Florida has been experiencing could have been a factor, he said.
