According to police in the archipelago, off Florida’s east coast, all four individuals aboard were killed in a plane crash on Sunday, November 10, 2013. A small single-engine plane crashed into the waters a few miles off Grand Bahama Island, Bahama’s northernmost island. “All are believed to be Americans. It is thought they were on some kind of sightseeing tour,” stated Stephen Dean, Police Superintendent.

According to the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department, the group was on a local sightseeing flight in the area of Freeport, Grand Bahama, when the aircraft ditched in low waters approximately seven miles north of the Freeport Control Tower. There have been many plane crashes in the Bahamas in recent years. Last year, an aircraft crashed into a luxury resort, which led to one death and four injuries. Another plane crash occurred last week, in the Bahamas, where two men had to be rescued by a United States Coast Guard crew in a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.

Sunday’s crash involved a Cirrus (SR)22 plane, which crashed minutes after takeoff from the island’s international airport. The pilot radioed that the plane was “experiencing some engine problems,” said Emrick Seymour, Assistant Police Commissioner for Grand Bahama. He also stated that the police were “right in the middle of the investigation.”

Investigators from the Civil Aviation Department’s Air Accident Investigation & Prevention Unit will be conducting an onsite field investigation to determine the cause of the crash. Information regarding the victims’ identities was not provided by authorities.

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