All four family members on board a small plane that went missing off the Bahamas were found dead Tuesday after relatives launched their own search efforts, a family member said.
The plane went missing on Monday after taking off from Great Harbor Cay, an island in the northern part of the Caribbean archipelago of the Bahamas, and was heading to Miami Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County, the Royal Bahamas Police Force announced. He said in a statement.
Air traffic control lost contact with the plane about 13 miles west of Andros Island, according to police.
“The Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) was contacted and provided with available information. BASRA advised that the US Coast Guard attempted to search the area for the missing aircraft. However, due to inclement weather conditions, the search was postponed until conditions were conducive,” police said.
A family member, Sylvia Lario, said the family on boats recovered the bodies. The family was working with the US Coast Guard to bring them home.
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“We are extremely grateful to everyone who supported us, looked with us, and kept our family in their prayers,” the family said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We respectfully ask for privacy as we mourn this unimaginable loss.”
Royal Bahamas Police Force as well An update has been shared He spoke about the missing plane on Tuesday, saying that “human remains have been recovered and are now in police custody.”
“Furthermore, the remains are being transported to New Providence. In response, the police have since mobilized a team of officers to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” the police added.
The Bahamas Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said Neither the plane nor any debris associated with it Or the wreckage has been located.
The AAIA is coordinating with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other appropriate national and international agencies in the investigation of the accident.
“At this early stage, no determination has been made as to the cause or contributing factors,” the AAIA added.
Lario said her uncle, Mario Lamar, 80, was flying the plane and had more than 40 years of experience as a pilot while routinely traveling to the Bahamas.
in Video statement shared by WSVN-TV in MiamiThe plane also carried Lamar’s wife, Lily Lamar, 79, and two of his grandchildren, Christian Sosa, 22, and Sophie Sosa, 28, Lario said.
The family has a home on Great Harbor Cay and spent Labor Day weekend on the island, Lario said.
“They’ve spent their whole lives going there. This is like their second home,” Lario said He told the Miami Herald.
Lario revealed that Sophie sent a text message to her parents in a family group chat to let them know they were leaving, and the flight plan provided by her uncle showed the expected time the plane would land.
The family contacted the authorities after noticing that letters had not been delivered to Sophie.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) previously told Global News that it supports the search to locate the plane.
“At approximately 2 p.m., the Royal Bahamas Defense Force requested Coast Guard assistance following a report of a plane with four people on board being shot down approximately 15 miles off Andros Island, Bahamas. Controllers at the Southeast Area Command Center coordinated the launch of the HC-144 Ocean Sentry to assist Bahamian authorities in the search. For further information, please contact Bahamian authorities,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
—With files from The Associated Press
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