Four Florida family members have been found deceased after a plane they were traveling on went down off the coast of the Bahamas, a family member said Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard had joined the search for the aircraft that authorities in the Bahamas believe “crash-landed” in the ocean after departing from Great Harbour Cay on Monday.
Pilot Mario Lamar, 80, his wife Lili, 79, and two of their grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, were identified by family as those on board the PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft that was heading to Opa-locka, Florida.
“It is with profound sadness that we confirm all four of our family members have been found deceased. The search and recovery mission was conducted alongside family members and civilians who answered our call for help. Our relatives ultimately located our loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own vessels,” Silvia Larrieu, the niece of Mario and Lamar, said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
“We are now in communication and working with the U.S. Coast Guard to bring our loved ones home safely and with dignity. We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers. We respectfully ask for privacy as we mourn this unimaginable loss,” she added.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Royal Bahamas Police Force for comment.
Larrieu told the Miami Herald that the family was coming home to Florida after visiting a vacation property in Great Harbour Cay over Labor Day weekend and that “they’ve spent their whole life going there.” Data from the website FlightAware showed the plane descended from 10,000 feet to 3,700 feet in about three minutes before vanishing from radar.
Larrieu also said to the newspaper that Mario Lamar had years of experience as a pilot and always kept the aircraft in “pristine” shape.
U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said Monday it was assisting authorities in the Bahamas “following a report of a downed aircraft with four souls on board approx 15 mi off Andros Island,” with a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane joining the search.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said it received a report around 2:20 p.m. on Monday “that an aircraft may have gone down in the waters off Red Bays.”
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It added that air traffic control “confirmed that a PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft, bearing tail number N212ML, departed Great Harbour Cay at approximately 11:12 a.m., en route to Opa-locka, Florida.”
“Air traffic control subsequently lost contact with the aircraft approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.
“The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) advised that the United States Coast Guard had attempted to search the area for the missing aircraft,” police also said. “However, due to inclement weather, the search was postponed until conditions became favorable.”
