A plane en route to New York with 11 people on board disappeared after taking off from the Dominican Republic, authorities said Tuesday.
The Atlantis Airlines plane, which was expected to make a refueling stop in the Bahamas, sent an emergency signal before disappearing from the radar 35 minutes after takeoff on about 3:30 p.m. Monday, said Jose Tomas Perez, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute.
The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies were searching in the Atlantic Ocean about 4 miles (6 kilometers) west of West Caicos island but has not found any wreckage, said Nick Ameen, a spokesman.
The plane, a multiengine Britton-Norman Islander, departed from Santiago in the Dominican Republic, he said.
Santo Domingo, DR (AHN) - Officials continue to search for a small plane with 12 people aboard that is missing since it took off from Santiago’s Cibao International Airport late Monday afternoon.
The U.S. registered plane took off at 4;06 p.m. Monday with 12 Dominicans on board. It was headed to Inagua, Bahamas and went missing off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands after later issuing a distress signal for 40 minutes, according to the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (Idac).
Flight controllers at the Providenciales Control center, at Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), picked up the distress signal and TCI police reporteldy picked up a mayday call from a small plane 16 miles off the coast.
U.S. Coast Guard and TCI Search and Rescue crews mounted a search Monday, but had to suspend it because of bad weather. The search resumed Tuesday morning.
The aircraft, registered in the U.S. as N-650LT, was operated by Atlantic Aviation and carried the pilot and eleven passengers.
The plane, Britton-Norman Islander, was registered to a company called Puerto Rico Airline, based in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
The company’s owner, Luis Perez, said the plane was for sale and was only supposed to be inspected in the Dominican Republic. He planned to report it as stolen.
If i were a betting man my guess is there going to find that plane in the states with no one around. There are to many conflicting stories that they are not even sure the last place it took off from. My guess is it was stolen to smuggle some people in…Only a guess.
Yeah, this is in my area, I was going to post that night but i was busy doing something related to it, also i was in Florida. Trislander. Registration is N650LP.
Pilot radioed mayday, screaming heard in the background. Doesn’t sound very fake.
The latest from the most reliable sources you’re going to hear from says it was headed to Providenciales ( just a few miles East of afore mentioned West Caicos ) from the Dominican Republic.
MIAMI - Coast Guard crews are searching for an aircraft that reportedly crashed with 11 people aboard four miles west of West Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands.
The multi-engine Britton Norman Island aircraft, tail number N650LP, departed Santiago, Dominican Republic and was en route to refuel in Mayaguana, Bahamas, before continuing its voyage to New York when it dropped off radar.
An HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, deployed to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands in support of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, a HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Air Station Miami, an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Detroit embarked aboard the cutter Bear and the crew of the cutter Bear are searching for the missing aircraft.
The Coast Guard Cutter Bear is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Va.
According to reports from the Dominican Republic today, this was a flight carrying illegal aliens to the USA. The reports indicate that the pilot filed his flight plan as a Private flight using a US issued student certificate. He was not authorized to carry passengers. Family members of the victims indicate that they were charged $16,000 each for the flight. $16000!!! Enough for some lucrative payoffs to all the corrupt officials.
Pilot entered N-605LT on the Dominican Flight Plan . . .
Santo Domingo - Immigration Agency director Jose Sanz Jiminian denied that the 11 passengers aboard the plane that went missing Monday had no visas, as a local newspaper reported.
The official, interviewed on the Z-101 morning radio program, said as soon as he heard about the plane, he called the Immigration office in Santiago, where he was told that all the passengers, including the pilot Adrian Jiminez, had a visa for the Providenciales Islands, for which the trip was legal. “For that reason we’ve taken all restrictive measures so that nobody can leave the country with forged documents.”
Meanwhile Pilots Association president Pedro Dominguez reiterated that the pilot of the U.S. - registered plane made flight an irregular flight using a student license issued in that country. (???)
He also regretted that the authorities at Cibao International Airport, from where the flight departed, and the Dominican Civil Aviation Insitute (Idac), didn’t know Jimenez didn’t have a valid license. “But also the fact that just around 15 days ago, the gentleman (Jimenez), while landing in the Santiago Airport, one of the landing wheels of the 3-engine Islander plane collapsed but wasn’t even investigated. If it had been investigated to depth then, it would’ve been detected that this gentleman didn’t qualify to be flying and this tragedy would’ve been avoided.”
The missing plane has the U.S. registry N-605LT, (we know this isn’t correct), operated by the company Atlantic Aviation. According to the flight plan, it was headed to the island Mayaguana, near the Bahamas, and one hour after take off from Cibao Airport the pilot radioed a distress call monitored by Miami Airport controllers.
Latest I’ve heard is that it was traveling from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Until we clarify where it came from, I guess we’re stuck with the investigation, since it was closest to us and last contact was made with us…
Serial No:1029
Registration: N650LP
Operator: Linea Aerea Puertorriquena Inc.
6 males, 5 females on board.
I don’t have any other info that is of significance. Afore mentioned info is unchanged since received (early yesterday morning).
ASN report says the aircraft made the call an hour after departure (which would have been about 5:06). Incorrect, by 5:06 I already heard of the accident. Accident time is estimated at around 4:30 pm, all EST. (Mentioned because the difference in sunlight between 4:30 and 5:05 is pretty significant)
Pilot got license (Or is it certificate? ) taken for transporting illegals. Some dude in the Dominican Republic got arrested, I think he played a part in the flight… ummm, that’s it for now.
Relatives of passengers told the Coast Guard the flight’s final destination was New York, Petty Officer Barry Bena said. But the FAA had no record that that was true.
Surely the pilot would keep authorities in the dark as much as possible if it was illegal? That is, no flight plans?
) taken for transporting illegals. Some dude in the Dominican Republic got arrested, I think he played a part in the flight… ummm, that’s it for now.