Mexican plane lost contact before Texas crash

Naval aircraft had been carrying medical patient and 7 others; at least 5 were killed.

- HALLIE GOLDEN AND MEGAN JANETSKY

AUTHORITIES and volunteers respond to a Mexican navy plane's crash near Galveston, Texas, on Monday.

Air traffic controllers lost communication for about 10 minutes with a small Mexican navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven others before it crashed off the Texas coast, killing at least five people, Mexico's president said Tuesday.

Authorities initially believed the plane had landed safely at its destination in Galveston, near Houston, before learning it had gone down Monday afternoon, President Claudia Sheinbaum said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. A search-and-rescue operation in waters near Galveston pulled two survivors from the plane's wreckage, Mexico's navy said, and one remained missing.