Tragic End to Humanitarian Mission
A father and daughter from the Cayman Islands have been identified as the victims of a fatal plane crash in Florida while conducting hurricane relief flights to Jamaica. Alexander Wurm, 53, and his 22-year-old daughter Serena died when their twin-engined Beechcraft King Air crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Coral Springs on Monday morning.
The aircraft had just taken off from Fort Lauderdale's executive airport when it plunged into a lake, narrowly avoiding houses in the area. Security footage from a local resident captured the tragic moment of impact. Remarkably, officials confirmed that nobody on the ground was injured in the incident.
Dedicated Service to Caribbean Communities
Alexander Wurm founded Ignite the Fire, a Christian ministry based in the Cayman Islands focused on youth empowerment across the Caribbean. In recent days, he had made multiple trips to Jamaica delivering essential supplies in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the devastating category 5 storm that made landfall on 28 October.
Sean Malone, director of Crisis Relief International, which partnered with Wurm, expressed profound shock in a video statement. "When this hurricane happened, he didn't hesitate – he sprung into action and did what he could with what he had in his hand," Malone said. "He saved lives and he gave his life for the people of the nations that were on his heart."
Legacy of Compassion and Faith
Ferrin Cole, CRI's team leader in Jamaica, described working with the Wurms as "an honour". "He kept showing up over and over, repeatedly flying in supplies that we couldn't get anywhere else," Cole recalled. "He just delivered a bunch of medical supplies, water filters, screws for roofs – so many things that this community has needed."
According to FlightAware data, the 1976 King Air aircraft had been regularly travelling between George Town in the Cayman Islands – where the Wurm family lived – and Montego Bay and Negril airports in Jamaica throughout the previous week. The plane had landed in Fort Lauderdale last Friday.
Ignite the Fire's Facebook statement remembered Serena as "a beacon of empathy and hope" who was following in her father's humanitarian footsteps. The family statement noted that Alexander leaves behind his wife Candace and two other children – 17-year-old son James and 20-year-old daughter Christiana.
Recovery operations continued through Tuesday as crews worked to locate and retrieve wreckage from the crash site. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause of the accident. The bodies of both victims, believed to be the only people on board, have not yet been recovered.
