Boeing 767 cargo jetliner with 3 aboard crashes near Houston

HOUSTON — A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard crashed Saturday into a bay just east of the city, according to officials.

Lynn Lunsford with the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately know the status of the people aboard and the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment.

The twin-engine plane had departed from Miami and went down in Trinity Bay, just north of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

No other details were immediately available.

An FAA alert was issued after officials lost radar and radio contact with Atlas Air Flight 3591 when it was about 30 miles southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Lunsford said.

The Coast Guard dispatched several boats to assist in the search for survivors. Video provided by KTRK-TV in Houston showed a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the water in an apparent search for survivors.

FAA investigators are traveling to the scene as are authorities with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead the investigation.

Texas troopers also were at the scene.