a plane originating in mexico to transport patients. according to florida airport officials the patient was dropped off and the plane was returning to mexico with the pilot, copilot, doctor and nurse on board when the accident occurred. now throughout the morning, we have seen coast guard helicopters going overhead as well as state and local assets both in the air and on the water, some patrol boats going by. as they continue that search, all up and down the coast here, stretching from south of where we are where the airport is, ft. lauderdale international where the plane left from and past us, up north of ft. lauderdale to an area called hillsborough, so an expansive search still going on in hopes that if nothing else, they can at least find the bodies of those two missing people. john, christine? coast guard officials said the search conditions were optimal and maybe there will be some miracle. john zarrella for news ft. lauderdale, thanks so much, appreciate it. so this might c
in the water. now, we still don t know the identities of people on board the plane. we are told that the bodies were of a man and a woman. of course, the national transportation safety board will investigate this accident. and we are expecting a news conference from authorities any minute now where they may update the status of the search. zoraida. all right. john, when that happens, we ll get more details from you. thanks for joining us. john zarrella live in florida for us. in the meantime, cocaine and politics together again. some new legal trouble facing a u.s. congressman. florida s trey radel is due in court facing charges that he was carrying cocaine. this goes as a dramatic change for the freshman who was elected just over a year ago. athena jones has more. reporter: he came to washington because he wants to be able to help.
find a piece of wreckage larger than 6 foot by 6 foot. so that s going to make things very, very difficult as the search continues. kate? i d say so. john, keep us updated throughout the morning. john zarrella in florida for us. sure. trey raidle will be in a washington, d.c. courtroom on his arraignment. the freshman republican was arrested last month. athena jones is following all of the developments. she s live outside the courthouse this morning. good morning, athena. good morning, kate. the congressman says he s disappointed himself and stands ready to face the consequences of his actions. he also says he s seeking treatment. representative trey raidle says he came to washington because he wants to be able to help. our nation is facing an
the industry says there were 2300 insurance claims in 2006. in 2010, almost triple. nearly 6700. but many never get paid. they can deny it on a visual assessment not evening testing the soil. how do you know if there s a sinkhole going on if you don t test it? reporter: citizens will cover them for the loss of their homement for now they re staying in a nearby hotel waiting to see if they can get their belongs out before the whole place is gone. john zarrella is live there now. i can see the tape behind you keeping families out. what are they going to do? where are they living? reporter: well, they re still in the hotel. and they got some stuff out. thanks to the fire department. as you can see, viewers can see behind me, about two hours ago demolition we began on the home.
becoming by the moment. the statics are this, 70 feet wide, 50 feet deep now and growing. this is all taking place in florida. a city of 35,000 people just north of clear water, florida. we have more on this now from john zarrella. reporter: watch this. this is a section of a home collapsing after an enormous sinkhole opened up beneath it. it s been falling a piece at a time. slowly. i saw a screen room going down into the sinkhole. at that point i just turned around and said everybody out, grab clothes and try to get out of house. reporter: it spread to the home next door. others are at risk too. at least half a dozen in all. for him, this is a bitter ending. he was planning to remodel. put in a pool. it s a house.