A small Cessna crashed into the Bay of Banderas this afternoon just off the coast at Las Glorias beach in Puerto Vallarta.
Three of the five passengers were rescued by Jalisco Civil Protections.
The passengers had planned a skydiving adventure in Puerto Vallarta as to where three passengers were able to jump from the plane prior to the crash, two remained on board.
Victims of the crash was 33-year old Robin Ballachey from Lake Tahoe, and 42-year old Varsha Maisuria from Loughborough, UK. According to a news report by Lompoc Record, Ballachey was killed in the crash while in Puerto Vallarta for the summer as a skydive instructor. Varsha Maisuria was on the plane as a tourist to tandem jump, skydiving while strapped to the back of a professional skydiver, while Ballachey was assigned as her instructor.
The plane was operated by local Skydive company, SkyDive Vallarta. The pilot and two instructors were survivors of the crash.
Cause of accident has not yet been determined but only described as mechanical error, officials say the plane is located over 1000 meters (3400 feet) below sea level. Currently there is no equipment in the area to recover a small aircraft at those depths.
We will update the story as more information becomes available.
Atendemos caída de una aeronave pequeña tripulada por civiles, en Playa las Glorias en Puerto Vallarta.
— Protección Civil JAL (@PCJalisco) May 7, 2015
