Florida family and grandchildren missing after private plane crashes near Andros Island
A five-seat PA-34 Piper carrying a Florida couple and their two grandchildren vanished over water west of Andros Island, prompting a search by Bahamian authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard.
A PA-34 Piper carrying Mario Lamar, his wife Lili Lamar and their grandchildren Sofia Sosa and Christian Sosa disappeared while flying from Great Harbour Cay toward Miami Executive Airport. Contact was lost about 13 miles west of Andros Island, prompting a joint search by the Royal Bahamian Defence Force, the Bahamas police and the U.S. Coast Guard, which deployed an HC‑144 Ocean Sentry aircraft. A family member later located the aircraft and retrieved Mario Lamar’s body, placing it on their own vessel.
The family has issued public pleas for any pilots or boaters in the area to assist in locating the remaining relatives, sharing coordinates and a VHF channel for coordination. Adverse weather conditions delayed the initial official rescue response.
How this was covered
- Right-leaning outlets covered this 12h later
Why it matters
The incident underscores the hazards of private aviation and the challenges of conducting search‑and‑rescue operations in remote Caribbean waters.
How this story developed
- Sep 6 Cargo Boeing 767 linked to Amazon overruns Miami runway, massive smoke plume observed
- Sep 7 Reporters now note five deaths and five injuries associated with the incident.
- Sep 7 Three of the injured remain in critical condition and the pilot and co‑pilot were reported trapped in the cockpit.
- Sep 8 A civilian relative recovered the body of 80-year-old pilot Mario Lamar following the crash of his private plane near North Andros Island.
- Sep 8 NTSB retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders and sent them to its headquarters.
- Sep 8 A family member recovered the pilot’s body after locating the downed aircraft.
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