The bodies of four family members from Miami were recovered after their small plane crashed near the Bahamas, according to the US Coast Guard and the family.
Who are the victims?
The family identified the four victims as 80-year-old Mario Lamar Sr, his 79-year-old wife Lili Lamar, and their two grandchildren, 28-year-old Sofia Sosa (also called Sofi Sosa) and 22-year-old Christian Sosa, as per reports.
Mario was flying the plane. The family called him “an experienced pilot with more than 40 years of flying experience,” as per ABC News.
Silvia Larrieu, Lamar’s niece, called him “a lifelong, very experienced pilot” and said the family had just spent “a wonderful long weekend together” with the grandchildren and two other grandchildren, as per NBC News. She said the family was “departing business as usual, like he’s done his entire life.”
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What happened
The plane was a PA-34 Piper, a small five-seater aircraft with tail number N212ML, as per a Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) news release shared on Facebook. According to RBPF, Bahamas Police got reports around 2:20pm local time on Monday, September 7, that a plane may have gone down in the waters of Red Bays, North Andros.
Air traffic control confirmed that the plane had left Great Harbour Cay with four people on board, as per the RBPF release. The plane took off late Monday morning and was headed to Opa-locka, Florida. It crashed about 45 minutes later, near Red Bays, North Andros in the Bahamas
“The aircraft took off from Great Harbour Cay at approximately 10:12am bound for Miami Executive Airport [formerly Tamiami Airport], and its last recorded contact occurred around 11:04am, near the western side of Andros Island,” the family said in a statement as per multiple outlets.
RBPF said air traffic control lost contact with the plane about 13 miles west of Andros Island. According to NBC News, the Coast Guard said the plane went down about 15 miles off the coast of Andros Island. WPBF reported that the family was traveling to Miami Executive Airport in Opa-locka.
Silvia Larrieu, the pilot’s niece, told NBC affiliate WTVJ that FlightAware, a flight-tracking platform, showed the aircraft “flying into the edge of a storm” before it quickly changed direction.
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Family confirms all four died
On Tuesday, the family confirmed that all four relatives had died. “It is with profound sadness that we confirm all four of our family members have been found deceased,” the family said in a statement.
The family said relatives found their loved ones and had to bring them back on their own boats. “We are now in communication and working with the US coast Guard to bring our loved ones home safely and with dignity,” the statement added.