A small plane with four people on board has gone missing as it flew from the Bahamas to Miami on Monday, officials said.
The Piper PA-34 aircraft departed after 10 a.m. from the Great Harbour Cay Airport, according to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA).
While on its way to Miami Executive Airport, the aircraft lost contact, officials said. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the United States Coast Guard were notified.
U.S. Coast Guard officials confirmed it is collaborating with Bahamian authorities in the search for the aircraft that may have crashed into the sea approximately 15 miles from Andros Island.
So far, authorities have not officially confirmed the identities of the occupants, but family members said a couple and two grandchildren, who have been identified as Mario Lamar, 80; his wife Lili Lamar, 79; Sofia Sosa, 28; and Christian Sosa, 22, were aboard the plane.
They had all spent the weekend at a second home the family owns in Great Harbour Cay and were returning to South Florida on Monday.
“Mario Lamar, an experienced pilot with more than 40 years of flying experience, was piloting the aircraft with his wife, Lili, and grandchildren, Christian and Sofi, on board. The aircraft took off from Great Harbour Cay at approximately 10:12 a.m. bound for Miami Executive Airport, and its last recorded contact occurred around 11:04 a.m., near the western side of Andros Island,” the family said in a statement.
In a video sent to NBC6 and Telemundo 51 by Silvia Larrieu, Mario Lamar’s niece, the family asks for help from aircraft or boats that can assist in the search and urges people who have seen anything to report it to the authorities.
Just before takeoff, the mother of the two young people had received a text message from her daughter. But as time passed without any notification that they had landed, and after seeing that the message hadn’t even finished sending, the family alerted the authorities.
“We are begging you to please help us with your prayers and with the authorities. Anyone who has seen anything or who can go out by plane or boat to help us find them. We haven’t lost hope that we will find them on a raft,” said the niece of Mario Lamar, who was piloting the missing aircraft.
The last known position of the aircraft was over waters west of North Andros, in the Bahamas. Initial searches conducted by the Coast Guard in that area have so far yielded no results. An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft is participating in the search and rescue efforts.
The AAIA reported that the investigation is ongoing and that more details will be released as the search and rescue efforts progress.
This story was translated from Spanish with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. An NBC6 editor reviewed the translation.