ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla — A safety board is being proposed at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport following a deadly crash last month that it took 45 minutes for first responders to get to.
The delay in reaching the victim has raised concerns.
Though first responders arrived at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport quickly, but they didn't reach the pilot who'd crashed and died until 39 minutes later.
In early March, Marianne Fox's plane crashed into the marsh upside down and was hidden by tall grass. according to the airport authority.
Once first responders found the plane they had trouble getting to it. Parts of the marsh were too shallow for airboats and too muddy to walk in, according to St. Johns County Fire Rescue. They had to find a creek deep enough for the airboat and when they got to the plane it was 39 minutes later.
Fox's fiance was flying beside her at the time.
"I looked for her from the air and I didn't know where she was," John Bourke told First Coast News in March. "I didn't see her. I didn't know where in the marsh she was."
Fox was 49 years old. Her plane had a loss of engine power and smoke coming from the exhaust. Bourke believes she drowned.
"St. Augustine is a challenging situation because you have the runway ends very abruptly into a marsh and she just rolled off that runway I guess into the marsh and that's where she passed away," he said. "I still imagine her being with me. It's very hard to imagine that she can't be there for me."
There is a fire station at the airport, but no one was working at the time of the crash. It does not have to be active unless there's a commercial flight scheduled. The airport director told First Coast News in March that talks are in the works about having it staffed full time.
The Airport Authority Board Meeting is at 4:00 p.m. at the airport's conference center.