Ten killed in Bahamas plane crash as nation marks independence anniversary
A Flamingo Air Cessna 402 came down in the Atlantic on a short flight from Nassau to North Andros, and the operator’s licence has been suspended.
NASSAU, Bahamas. All ten people aboard a twin-engine aircraft flying between islands in The Bahamas were killed when it crashed into the Atlantic on July 10, casting a shadow over the country’s 53rd independence anniversary celebrations, officials said.
The Flamingo Air Cessna 402 had left Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau on Friday afternoon on a 17-minute flight to North Andros when it went down.
“This is a painful moment,” Prime Minister Phillip Davis said in a brief national address. “The families affected deserve compassion, privacy, and support as the investigation proceeds.”
“We have mourned too many lives, we have comforted too many families and today we mourn once again,” he told the nation of about 300,000 people.
Opposition leader Michael Pintard said he was devastated, noting that the crash happened “on a day when Bahamians should be celebrating together.”
Investigation under way
“At this stage of the investigation, no determination has been made regarding the cause or contributing factors of the accident,” the Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority said.
The authority was also investigating an incident earlier on Friday in which another Flamingo Air flight experienced technical problems and returned from Mayaguana to Nassau as a precaution. Officials said the two incidents had led to the suspension of the operator’s licence “in the interest of safety.”
A string of accidents
The crash came two months after the US Coast Guard rescued 11 people from a twin-engine Beechcraft that went down after major engine failures while flying voters from Marsh Harbour to Freeport on election day, May 12.
In September 2024, a Piper Aztec crashed into the sea near Nassau after engine failure, killing eight people, while a Piper Navajo struck trees on Long Island, killing one and injuring six. Officials blamed dual engine failure.
Domestic aviation is central to economic life in The Bahamas, whose population is spread across an archipelago of 700 islands, most of them uninhabited.
