Rescuers search waters near Turks and Caicos for missing plane
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 | 9:17 AM ET
CBC News
Authorities are searching the waters around the Turks and Caicos Islands Tuesday for a plane that disappeared with at least 11 people on board.
Ships from the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies are scanning the Atlantic Ocean near West Caicos island.
Aviation officials gave conflicting reports on the twin-engine plane's origin, destination and where it was last reported.
Jose Tomas Perez, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, said the plane disappeared from the radar about 35 minutes after taking off from the Dominican Republic on Monday afternoon.
Another official at the institute, aerial navigation director Santiago Rosa, said the pilot's flight plan indicated he planned to land on Mayaguana Island in the southeastern Bahamas, but it's not clear if that was the final destination. The Bahamas Aviation Authority said the plane never landed there.
Rosa also said flight records showed the plane had 12 people on board.
However, officials with the U.S. Federal Aviation Adminstration said the plane went missing after departing from Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos, south of the Bahamas.
Local media reported the pilot made a mayday call as the plane flew near the coast of Providenciales.
U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Nick Ameen said the plane was expected to refuel in the Turks and Caicos and was ultimately trying to reach New York.
Registration records show the plane is owned by Linea Aerea Puertorriquena Inc, an air courier service that does business as Apele Air. Calls to the company's office in Carolina, Puerto Rico, were not immediately returned.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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