3 confirmed dead after cargo jet operated for Amazon crashes in Texas

At least three dead in Texas cargo plane crash

Atlas Air confirmed on Sunday that the three people aboard a cargo plane that crashed in Texas on Saturday did not survive.

The twin-engine Boeing 767 cargo jetliner, contracted by Amazon, was spotted by witnesses just before 1 p.m. diving "nose first" into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, roughly 35 miles east of Houston, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said at a news conference Saturday.

The plane’s engine reportedly was surging and the aircraft made a sharp turn before nose-diving, according to the sheriff.

Hawthorne on Sunday said investigators have found two bodies at the site where the plane crashed, and are continuing to search for another one.

Flight 3591 was spotted by witnesses just before 1 p.m. diving "nose first" into Trinity Bay, officials said. (KRIV FOX 26 via AP)

Flight 3591 lost radar and radio contact when it was about 30 miles southeast of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue an alert notice. The aircraft was part of the Amazon Prime Air Fleet and was traveling from Miami to Houston.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Robert Sumwalt said security video from a jail about a mile away from the crash site showed the plane heading toward the ground, and added that air traffic controllers reported rain in the area, and that the plane did not send out a distress call before the wreck.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a plane crash site in Trinity Bay in Anahuac, Texas on Saturday. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Investigators initially said they found "human remains" following the crash — news which the airline confirmed on Sunday.

"It is with great sadness that Atlas Air Worldwide has confirmed that the three people on board Atlas Air Flight 3591 did not survive," Atlas said in a statement obtained by Fox News.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Airline officials said their "primary focus is working to provide the families of those affected with care and support," and added they were working with the NTSB, FAA and local officials in Houston to investigate the crash.

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.