Bahamian authorities asked the United States Coast Guard for help in the US Coast Guard Bahamas plane search after a plane with four people onboard reportedly went down near Andros Island. The request reached the Coast Guard around 2 p.m. as search crews began working to locate where the plane went down.
The plane had taken off from Great Harbour Cay and was scheduled to land at Miami Executive Airport in Southwest Miami-Dade. Authorities believe it went down about 15 miles off Andros Island after disappearing from radar.
Great Harbour Cay to Miami Executive Airport
The flight path is part of what makes the case urgent for people waiting on word in Miami and Florida. A small aircraft that left Great Harbour Cay never reached Miami Executive Airport, and the search now centers on finding the wreckage first so the four occupants can be accounted for.
The Coast Guard sent its ocean sentry plane to support Bahamian search efforts. That puts the response in the air and over the water at the same time, which is the quickest way to cover a broad area when a plane disappears between islands.
Andros Island radar loss
During the flight, the plane appeared to spin around a few times off the Bahamian coast before disappearing from radar. A passing storm was in the area when that happened, but it is unclear whether weather played a factor in the plane going down.
That sequence leaves crews with a narrow operational task: follow the last known track, search the area near Andros Island, and narrow the ocean search to the point where the aircraft likely entered the water. As of Monday afternoon, they were still working to locate where the plane went down, and there had been no word on the status of the four people onboard.
Monday afternoon search
The immediate next step is continued searching by the Coast Guard and Bahamian crews until the aircraft or the four occupants are located. For families tied to the flight, the only hard update is that the search is active and the outcome has not yet been established.
