One body has been recovered after a Boeing 767 cargo plane nose-dived into shallow water in Texas with three people aboard, authorities said.
"There was nothing intact of the airplane," Hawthorne said. "Knowing what I saw, I don't think anyone could survive it."
"There's no doubt he was having some kind of problem with the airplane, according to the eyewitnesses," the sheriff said. "Then it turned and went into a nosedive."
Before rescue teams arrived, volunteers in airboats scrambled to the scene, KTRK reported.
"That's why we went out there, to save anybody," volunteer Cade Till told KTRK. But after seeing the debris, Till realized the likelihood was slim.
The 767 was in a normal descent as it approached the airport, then went into a "very, very rapid descent" at 6,300 feet, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters.
"Our union stands together as a family and in support of our members' families," said Daniel C. Wells, who is also an Atlas Air captain. "Our focus is on our friends and colleagues who were on that plane, and we are doing everything we can to support their families."
Aerial images from KPRC showed emergency responders on airboats near the site of a significant amount of debris.
"The joint operation between the Chambers County Sheriff's Office, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI will continue to attempt recovery of victims and the aircraft," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
The plane was located in Jack's Pocket at the north end of Trinity Bay, the Chambers County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook.
The plane was built in 1992 and the flight number was 3591, according to the FAA website.
"We are concerned about the safety of the three people reported to be on board the airplane," it said. "We are prepared to provide technical assistance to the National Transportation Safety Board as it investigates the accident."