By Gerrino J. Saunders
Journal Staff Writer
It was 5am on a dark Sunday morning of October 27th with local weather reports indicating a 7am sunrise when police on Ragged Island were informed of an airplane crash in a bushy and rocky area east of the Duncan Town Airport.
Officers, including personnel from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), responded and found the twin-engine plane engulfed in flames and destroyed.
It was later discovered that at least one person perished in the crash. Police later informed that there were charred remains of two people found in the wreckage.
As investigators could not gather details from any of the traditional methods when dealing with airplane accidents suspicions began to rise that the flight may not have been a regular one but one that was clandestine.
On Monday the Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe was asked by reporters about the plane crash and his comments suggested that it could have been drug related.
At the time he said, “the passengers aren’t immediately identified, which would kind of indicate there may have been no filed flight plan.
“The briefing I received indicated that the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers were on the ground, and I would think that that may be some idea of what is being looked into,” said Munroe.
It is unclear if the airport at Ragged Island was open at the time of what appears to be an attempted landing and if there are runway lights to assist pilots.
There has been speculation from local pilots who spoke under the condition of anonymity to The Journal that the pilot may have undershot the run way while trying to land without the proper lighting.
In January this year four men including three Bahamians and one Jamaican were arrested and charged in relation to a multi-million drug seizure after being caught in the Ragged Island chain by a joint operation between the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) with 2,908 pounds of marijuana and five pounds of cocaine on a go-fast boat.
In 2022there was another large drug seizure on Ragged Island when RBPF and OPBAT and the U.S Coast Guard teamed up to seize more than 800 pounds of marijuana from a go-fast boat with a street value of some $815,000.
In the meantime investigations continue into Sunday’s plane crash as civil aviation authorities and law enforcement try to piece together what occurred and who the individuals were the perished on that flight.
Dr. Kenneth Romer the Director of Aviation also commented on the crash and overall airplane safety in light of several incidents involving small airplanes in recent years that have either crashed or forced to execute an emergency landing.
He said, “our Civil Aviation Authority has done a phenomenal job when it comes to providing safety oversight and regulatory compliance. Where there are issues of safety or security they try to be proactive in addressing it.”
Dr. Romer also encouraged members of the public to assist the Department of Civil Aviation with safety and security by reporting anything that you see while traveling or working that may be a cause for concern.
