It was meant to be a journey of hope—packing relief supplies, hearts full of compassion, a flight bound for hard-hit Jamaica. Instead, early Monday morning in Florida, a father and daughter died when their small plane crashed into a pond in a quiet residential neighborhood. The pair were on a humanitarian mission, and their loss has sent ripples of sorrow through the community they served.
Late morning on November 10 2025, in the suburb of Coral Springs, just west of Fort Lauderdale, a turboprop aircraft left the runway at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and within minutes crashed into a retention pond behind homes in the Windsor Bay gated community. The aircraft narrowly missed striking houses, but the impact shattered a backyard fence and sent debris and fuel into yards and pools.
The victims have been identified by their ministry as Alexander Wurm, 53, and his daughter Serena Wurm, 22. Alexander founded the evangelical outreach organization Ignite the Fire Ministry, which works across the Caribbean, and Serena followed in his footsteps in humanitarian service. According to the ministry’s statement, Alexander was “known for his warmth and unwavering kindness” and had spent his life traveling to bring faith and aid to others. Serena was described as “a beacon of empathy and hope, inspiring all with her commitment to humanitarian work.”
The mission they were on was to bring relief supplies to Jamaica, which was devastated by Hurricane Melissa—a Category 5 storm that made landfall on October 28 and inflicted widespread damage on the island. Flight-tracking records indicate that the aircraft had recently made several trips between U.S., Cayman Islands and Jamaica routes, suggesting relief missions were ongoing.
At the crash scene, emergency crews from the Coral Springs‑Parkland Fire Department and local dive teams responded quickly, identifying the plane’s wreckage in the pond and confirming there were no survivors. Residents described hearing a loud roar and seeing the aircraft clip trees, rip through a fence, then plunge into the water. One witness said: “I heard like two race cars, then ‘boom’.” Officials note that no homes were struck and thankfully no one on the ground was injured—but yards and water were contaminated by fuel and debris.
Investigations are now underway by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to determine what caused the crash. The plane, a Beechcraft B100/King Air type, was registered to a company called International Air Services, and had made several relief flights in the days before the tragedy. The community was advised to keep doors and windows shut overnight due to lingering fuel odor after the crash.
Back at the ministry, grief turned quickly into resolve. In a public message, the ministry pledged to continue the mission that Alexander and Serena were carrying out: “As we honour their memory, may we continue their legacy of generosity, compassion, and faith.” Their survivors include Alexander’s wife Candace and two other children, a son and daughter.
In the wake of this tragedy, the story doesn’t end with loss—it asks us to reflect on what it meant. A father and daughter, working together to lift others, losing their lives doing it. It’s a reminder of what sacrifice looks like in real time, beyond the headlines, in a neighborhood pond and beyond. And for the community left behind, it’s a quiet call: that the mission matters, the people matter—and their light, though extinguished here, still lives in the helping hand left behind.
