Get you up to speed: Family missing after plane crash off Bahamas coast | News World
A light aircraft carrying four American family members, including Mario Lamar Senior, 80, and his grandchildren Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, has disappeared off the coast of Andros Island, Bahamas. Search and rescue operations are underway after the plane lost contact shortly after takeoff from Great Harbour Cay.
The search operation for the missing plane was hindered by inclement weather, with further rain and thunderstorms expected throughout the week. The Royal Bahamian Defense Force’s assistance request was made around 2pm after the aircraft was reported down approximately 15 miles off Andros Island.
The Bahamian Coast Guard has initiated a search and rescue operation after the aircraft was reported missing, but efforts have been hampered by adverse weather conditions. The families of the missing individuals have called on authorities to “deploy every available resource to locate the aircraft and its four occupants as quickly as possible.”
What remains unclear — It is unknown if any wreckage from the aircraft has been located amidst the ongoing search efforts.
Family of four missing after plane disappears off Bahamas coast
Sofia Sosa and her brother Christian Sosa were travelling on the plane with their grandparents when it is believed to have crashed (Picture: Family handout)
A couple and their two grandchildren are missing after a small plane disappeared off the Bahamas.
Search and rescue crews are scouring the Caribbean Sea after a light aircraft is believed to have crashed.
It was carrying an American family when it disappeared yesterday afternoon on their way from Andros Island to Miami.
The missing four have been named as Mario Lamar Senior, 80, Lili Lamar, 79, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22.
The pilot, grandfather Mario Lamar, 80, and his wife Lili Lamar, 79, are also missing after the incident (Picture: Family handout)
Mr Lamar is an experienced pilot with more than 40 years of flying experience, the family told ABC News.
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They were travelling in a PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft with tail number N212ML, the police said.
The family said they were tracking the plane when it suddenly turned around and lost contact.
The Lamar and Sosa families pleaded with the authorities to ‘deploy every available resource to locate the aircraft and its four occupants as quickly as possible.’
The family were flying in a small aircraft piloted by Mario Lamar Senior when it disappeared (Picture: Adrian Pingstone)
They left the Great Harbour Cay at around 11.12am local time before losing contact.
A search operation launched following the disappearance was delayed by rough weather. More rain and thunder have been forecast for the rest of the week.
The Bahamian Coast Guard said in a statement: ‘At approximately 2pm the Royal Bahamian Defense Force requested Coast Guard assistance following a report of a downed airplane with 4 people aboard approximately 15 miles off Andros Island, Bahamas.’
In July, 10 people died after a Cessna 402C crashed in San Andros on North Andros Island.
There were no survivors after the plane crashed into a wooded area near the runway, bursting into flames.
The Bahamas are made of 700 islands and around 2,400 smaller coral islets or cays.
Most of the smaller islets are uninhabited, and 90% of the Bahamas’ 300,000 residents live on the islands of New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco.
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