According to AP, Maj. Basil Jarrett of the Jamaican Defense Force announced the plane went down about 14 miles (22 kilometers) northeast of Port Antonio. Military personnel have been sent to investigate the incident.
The plane, a Socata TBM-700, flew from Rochester, N.Y. at 8:45 a.m. ET and was bound for Naples, Fla. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reported the pilot of the light business aircraft stopped responding to radio calls around 10 a.m. ET.
As CTV News writes: “Two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled under the direction of NORAD to investigate the flight as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s unclear what they were able to learn about the flight crew.”
While the passengers and pilot have not been identified, USA Today writes the single-engine turbo-prop “is believed to be registered to Rochester developer Larry Glazer.”
Around 2 p.m., Ted Soliday, executive director of the Naples, Florida, airport told media that the plane could be running out of fuel.
“They been flying for almost five hours. That’s a long time for that aircraft,” he said. “We do not know the people or what their condition is.”
Today’s crash marks the second time in less than a week that a private pilot has become unresponsive during a flight. On Saturday, a pilot lost consciousness and his plane drifted into restricted airspace over the nation’s capital, as AP writes. Fighter jets were also ordered to escort the small aircraft until it ran out of fuel and crashed Saturday into the Atlantic.
