Family members of four Floridians who were on a plane that crashed off the coast of the Bahamas successfully found the bodies of the victims Tuesday.
Family members identified the four people on board the plane as Mario Lamar, 80, the pilot; his wife Lili Lamar, 79; Sofia Sosa, 28; and Christian Sosa, 22, both grandchildren of the Lamars, according to the Miami Herald.
In a statement, the family of the victims said, “All four of our family members have been found deceased. The search and recovery mission was conducted alongside family members and civilians who answered our call for help. Our relatives ultimately located our loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own vessels,” according to WTVJ-TV.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said the five-seater PA-34 Piper plane carrying the Lamars and their grandchildren left Monday from Great Harbour Cay Airport, 55 miles northwest of Nassau.
The plane, headed for Miami Executive Airport, departed the Bahamas at 10:15 a.m. and crashed 37 minutes into the flight, according to FlightAware.
The Bahamian police said air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane when it was 13 miles west of Andros, an island southwest of Great Harbour Cay.
Initial search efforts, which included the U.S. Coast Guard, were paused Monday due to inclement weather, the Bahamian police said.
Mr. Lamar was a seasoned pilot with over 40 years of experience, family members told ABC News.
The plane, identified by Bahamian authorities as N-212ML in the Federal Aviation Administration registry, belongs to Seneca Aviation, which is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.
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