Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionsio D’Aguilar said he’s just as eager as family members to find out if a video posted on social media that claims fishermen found the remains of the Aztec plane that went down last month in Andros, is true.
At the moment, officials are trying to confirm that the plane shown in the video is the ill-fated one from the January 17th crash.
“It’s important that we get the right plane. As has been brought to my attention, there was a similar plane that went missing about two to three years ago, so we just want to make sure that we have the right plane that relates to the crash that happened in January,” Mr.D’Aguliar said.
He added that they haven’t confirmed anything yet and that they’re in the process of trying to first locate the wreckage and to determine whether they have the right plane.
“We’re very much on top of this; we’re very aware of it and very mindful of the sensitivity of this issue,” Mr. D’Aguliar said.
At last report, only the wing of the plane had been recovered – not enough to help investigators piece together what actually happened.
Civil Aviation officials are working with police to reach out to the fishermen, who posted the video in hopes of getting the coordinates of the supposed wreckage.
“You have to be very careful with social media. We want to be sure that it’s in Bahamian waters; it’s the plane that crashed here and we’re just trying to find it so that we can process the scene,” D’Aguliar said.
He added that until that process has been done, everything is still a question mark.
“So let’s get some facts established and then we can report responsibly to the Bahamian people and not sensationalize this accident.
According to the Minister, should authorities find that the wreckage featured in the video is indeed the one that crashed last month, a salvage company, insurance company and all necessary personnel will be on standby.
“We’re as anxious as the family to bring this to a sensible conclusion, so we’re very much on top of this,” D’Aguliar said.
