Friday, September 5, 2014

Search begins for downed aircraft near Jamaica

The U.S. Coast Guard and Jamaican officials are responding to a downed aircraft with three people reportedly aboard in the water approximately 14 miles north of Port Antonio, Jamaica.

On Friday, the Coast Guard 7th District command center in Miami received a call from U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) at 11 a.m. EDT reporting that a Socata TBM 700 single engine turbo prop aircraft (tail number N900KN) departed Rochester, N.Y. at 8:26 a.m. with three people aboard who were reportedly unresponsive to radio calls. The plane was scheduled to arrive in Naples, Fla., at noon.

A Coast Guard C-130 aircrew was launched from Clearwater, Fla., to help monitor the unresponsive aircraft. Two F-15 fighter jets under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command were launched to investigate. The Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew deployed to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, were also diverted to assist in the search.

The C-130 aircrew has arrived on scene along with Jamaican aircraft crews, but have been unable to locate the aircraft or a debris field. The search for the missing aircraft continues.

The Coast Guard continues to monitor the situation in close coordination with U.S. NORTHCOM and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “More information will be made available as it develops,” the Coast Guard said in a press statement.

The brand new 2014 plane is registered to New 51LG LLC of Rochester, N.Y., according to FAA records.

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