Update on fatal airplane crash

Miramar Beach, FL — Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) along with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are in South Walton County. They will work on trying to determine a cause for the crash of a single-engine aircraft, which went down in the Gulf of Mexico at 12:36 Saturday afternoon.

The World War II era AT6-Texan went down about a mile offshore from Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, located between Grayton Beach and Miramar Beach. Shortly after making impact, the plane would sink. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team helped locate the aircraft, and recovered the two bodies inside.

The pilot has been identified as 60-year-old Dr. Herman Evan Zeiger of Birmingham, Alabama. A positive identification has not been made of his female passenger. It is pending an autopsy scheduled for Monday at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Walton Beach. A salvage team from Atlanta, Georgia has arrived to recover the aircraft. Once out of the water, it will allow FAA and NTSB Personnel to examine the wreckage to help determine what may have gone wrong.

Besides the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the numerous other agencies’ for their assistance: the U.S. Coast Guard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the South Walton Fire District, and The Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Walton County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter (Air One) also provided crucial information to those on the water searching for the aircraft.

Earlier coverage

Federal Aviation Administration personnel from Birmingham, Alabama are arriving in South Walton County to take over the crash investigation of a single-engine aircraft which went down in the Gulf of Mexico at 12:36 this afternoon.

The World War Two era AT6-Texan crashed about a mile offshore from Topsail Hill Preserve State Park off South Walton County.  The plane would then sink.  The Walton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by numerous local, state, and federal agencies: the U.S. Coast Guard; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission; Walton Fire-Rescue; the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Dive team.

Late this afternoon, divers were able to locate the aircraft with its two occupants inside.  The male pilot and his female passenger were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies sent to the First Judicial Circuit Medical Examiners office in Fort Walton Beach for an autopsy.  The release of the victims’ names is pending notification of family.