VENICE, Fla. (WWSB) – The Venice-based
humanitarian nonprofit Agape Flights says it has recovered the bodies of two pilots killed when its cargo plane crashed Feb. 5 in a remote area of western Haiti. Rescuers located wreckage in the southern Grand’Anse region. The twin-engine Embraer 110 disappeared several minutes after taking off from the coastal town of Jeremie, on the way to Les Cayes.Agape’s communications director, Jacques May, told ABC7 by email Monday, “we have recovered the bodies of the two pilots and are working to return them home ASAP. This is where our full focus is at this time.”
Agape Flights has declined to release the identities of the pilots. No cause for the crash has yet been determined, but weather conditions in Haiti were challenging Thursday as a cold front moved through the Caribbean region. Satellite imagery from Thursday showed a storm system developing over eastern Cuba, with energy moving through western Haiti near Jeremie, close to where the wreckage was found. The mountainous terrain in the area reaches nearly 7,000 feet and can cause turbulence problems for aircraft.
The responsibility for investigating the crash lies with the Office National de l’Aviation civile in Haiti. The National Transportation Safety Board told ABC7 Monday that they have been officially notified of the crash by Haitian authorities. When a crash outside the U.S. involves U.S.-registered aircraft or Americans, the NTSB may designate an accredited representative and appoint technical advisors to the case. “It’s not yet been determined if an investigator will travel to Haiti or not, but we will assign an accredited representative to the investigation,” NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson told ABC7 via email.
Agape Flights issued a short video statement after the plans was confirmed down. “What we share with you is profound sorrow. And it’s that we do not believe that there were any survivors,” said Agape Flights’ CEO Allen Speer in a video posted Friday on social media. “Our hearts are broken. We grieve deeply for the families of the pilots who are now enduring an unimaginable loss.” According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, the aircraft left Venice Feb. 5 at 7:34 a.m., and landed in Eleuthera, Bahamas, at about 9 a.m. It took off again at 9:36 a.m. and landed in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, at 11:52 a.m, leaving at 1:18 p.m. and arriving at Jeremie at 1:51 p.m.
It left Jeremie at 2:33 p.m. and was last seen on radar at 2:37 p.m. Flight Aware data indicates in the final minute of flight, the aircraft was descending at more than 3,000 feet per minute and a speed of more than 200 mph. It had been scheduled to return to the U.S., clearing customs in West Palm Beach, before returning to Venice.
Credit to: WWSB
