Four Americans killed in Bahamas plane crash

[News_Editor]

Four Americans killed in Bahamas plane crash

2012-03-27 19:44:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

TREASURE CAY, Bahamas (BNO NEWS) -- Four Americans were killed on Sunday afternoon when a small plane crashed at a small airport in the Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas, local police said on Monday. There were no survivors.

The accident occurred at around 1:33 p.m. local time on Sunday when the six-seat single-engine Piper PA-32R aircraft was attempting to take-off from Treasure Cay Airport, a small airport in North Abaco district on the Abaco Islands. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Fort Pierce in Florida.

A spokesperson for the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the aircraft crashed into bushes between the end of the runway and S.C. Bootle Highway which runs adjacent to the airport. Four Americans, two males and two females, were on board the aircraft, but there were no survivors.

Police identified the victims as 60-year-old Gregory Schwartzenberger and 56-year-old Janice Schwartzenberger of Neptune Beach, Florida, and 61-year-old Dennis Sartoris and 56-year-old Janie Sartoris of Jacksonville, Florida.

Air traffic controllers did not immediately realize that the aircraft had crashed and only found out when personnel was sent to check on smoke that was rising from the area. Fire and Crash Rescue teams then quickly responded to the scene and found the aircraft fully engulfed in flames. The fire was quickly extinguished.

It was not immediately clear what caused Sunday's accident. "Police along with Firefighters and Civil Aviation officials are presently on scene conducting their investigations," a police spokesperson said in a statement. "Active investigations continue."

In October 2010, eight people were killed when a Cessna 402 aircraft crashed into Lake Killarney after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. The aircraft was on a flight to San Salvador, located in the southern Bahamas.

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