Father and daughter killed in plane crash carrying hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica

A Final Flight of Love and Service: Father and Daughter Lost on Humanitarian Mission to Jamaica

What was meant to be an act of com­pas­sion end­ed in heart­break on Mon­day, when a Flori­da father and his daugh­ter lost their lives while fly­ing to Jamaica on a hur­ri­cane relief mis­sion.

Alexan­der Wurm, 53, and his 22-year-old daugh­ter, Ser­e­na, were aboard a small air­craft that went down in a water­way in Coral Springs, just min­utes after tak­ing off from Fort Laud­erdale Exec­u­tive Air­port. The plane was bound for Mon­tego Bay, Jamaica — car­ry­ing sup­plies and hope for vic­tims of Hur­ri­cane Melis­sa.

Both were mem­bers of Ignite the Fire Min­istry, which lat­er released a mov­ing state­ment hon­or­ing their lives.

“Alex was known for his warmth and unwa­ver­ing kind­ness,” the min­istry shared. “He devot­ed his life to serv­ing oth­ers, trav­el­ing the world to bring faith, com­pas­sion, and sup­port to those in need. His lega­cy of love touched count­less lives.”

Ser­e­na, fol­low­ing her father’s path, had already become a source of light for oth­ers. “She was a bea­con of empa­thy and hope,” the state­ment con­tin­ued. “Togeth­er, their final jour­ney embod­ied self­less­ness and courage — a reminder of the pow­er of love and ser­vice.”

The tragedy leaves behind a griev­ing wife and moth­er, Can­dace Wurm, and two chil­dren — 20-year-old Chris­tiana and 17-year-old James — who now face life with­out their beloved father and sis­ter.

Offi­cials from the Nation­al Trans­porta­tion Safe­ty Board con­firmed the crash occurred rough­ly five min­utes after take­off. Though the plane clipped trees before land­ing in the water, mirac­u­lous­ly, no one on the ground was injured.

Their des­ti­na­tion — Jamaica — is still strug­gling to recov­er from the dev­as­ta­tion of Hur­ri­cane Melis­sa, a Cat­e­go­ry 5 storm that destroyed com­mu­ni­ties and left moun­tains of debris block­ing roads and aid routes. The Wurms’ mis­sion was to help deliv­er relief to those left with noth­ing.

Now, their sto­ry stands as a tes­ta­ment to the very ideals they lived by: com­pas­sion, sac­ri­fice, and faith.
In their final act, Alexan­der and Ser­e­na Wurm were doing exact­ly what they loved — help­ing oth­ers. And though their plane nev­er reached Jamaica, their lega­cy of kind­ness will con­tin­ue to lift hearts far beyond the clouds.