A plane crash on Monday resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people when a small passenger aircraft crashed into the sea while taking off from Roatán, a Caribbean island off Honduras.
The Lanhsa Airlines aircraft was headed for La Ceiba on the mainland when it made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and plunged into the water, civil aviation official Carlos Padilla confirmed.
“The plane almost fell on us. I was fishing,” an eyewitness told HCH television. The fire department reported that five people were rescued, while one passenger remains missing. Among the dead was Honduran musician Aurelio Martínez, a well-known figure in the Garifuna music scene, according to local media.
The flight was carrying 15 passengers, two pilots, and a flight attendant. One of the survivors, a 40-year-old French citizen, is being transported to a hospital in San Pedro Sula for treatment, Major Wilmer Guerrero of the fire department said. The crash happened about a kilometre from the coast, and authorities suspect an “apparent mechanical failure” in the British-made Jetstream 41 caused the accident.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said she had “immediately activated” an emergency response team, including the armed forces and firefighters, to assist with rescue and recovery efforts. Investigations are ongoing while search teams continue looking for the missing passenger.