Pat Dollard

Tweet

Caribbean Plane Carrying 11 Missing, May Have Been Seized on Ground

(FOX)

The mystery surrounding the small plane that vanished in the Caribbean grows as the airline suggests the plane, carrying 11 passengers, may have been commandeered.

The U.S. Coast Guard was searching near the Turks and Caicos Islands Tuesday for the missing aircraft, which sent out a distress call shortly before disappearing from radar.

Bad weather in the area was causing large swells and low visibility, making the search difficult for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Aviation officials gave conflicting reports on the plane’s origin, destination and whether it was considered stolen, hijacked in flight or lost over international waters.

“That plane apparently was stolen,” the Linea Area Puertorriquena Inc. employee, who referred to herself only as Lara, told FOX. She said the airline was notified of the plane’s disappearance Tuesday morning.

The twin-engine aircraft that vanished could have been seized on the ground in the Dominican Republic, according to the airline.

The United States Coast Guard denied that was the case.

“It was over the water when they disappeared — that’s why we were notified,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Bena told FOXNews.com. The plane disappeared over international waters.

Bena said the plane, a multi-engine Britton-Norman Island that normally seats 18 people, simply “dropped off the radar” Monday afternoon.

The plane was initially said to be en route to New York, but the Federal Aviation Administration told FOX News that may not be true.

Jose Tomas Perez, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, said the aircraft sent an emergency signal before disappearing from the radar 35 minutes after taking off from the Dominican Republic at about 3:30 p.m. Monday. He said 11 people were on board

Perez said the plane was heading to the Turks and Caicos Islands but never arrived.

But the FAA said the plane disappeared shortly after taking off from Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.

Providenciales police Sgt. Calvin Chase said airport authorities are still trying to locate records to determine whether the plane ever landed there.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the plane’s destination was not immediately known.

“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions here,” Bergen said.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, Nick Ameen, said rescuers searching for the plane were told it was expected to refuel in the Turks and Caicos. Relatives of those missing told the U.S. Coast Guard that the passengers were ultimately trying to reach New York, Petty Officer Barry Bena said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies were searching in the Atlantic Ocean about 4 miles west of West Caicos island but have not found any wreckage, Ameen said.

The plane, a 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. He planned to report it as stolen.

The Dominican aviation official, Jose Tomas Perez, initially identified the owner as Atlantis Airlines.