2 killed in Brac plane crash

| 14/11/2011

(CNS): Updated 3pm – The two men killed in a light aircraft crash on Cayman Brac late Sunday night were from Mexico and Colombia, officials have confirmed. The private plane came down at around 11:30pm on  Booby Bird Road on the Bluff. The single engine Cessna 210light aircraft was reported to be flying in from the west when it clipped a light pole and then crashed into the bush.  Police, Fire and Ambulance teams responded to the crash scene where the wreckage of a light aircraft was located.  Remains believed to be those of the pilot and passenger were located at or near the crash scene. The aircraft was extensively damaged, but did not ignite. Officials have not yet confirmed where the plane came from or where it was headed.

Representatives from the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) attended the scene supervising the investigation in close liaison with the RCIPS.  Members of the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) are due in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday to take over the investigation into the cause of the accident.

Jonathan Tibbetts, general manager of the local power firm Cayman Brac Power and Light, said the aircraft took some fifteen feet off the pole, which indicated it must have been very close to the ground and looking for somewhere to land at the time of the crash.

According to Tibbetts, the pole was not live as it was part of a new subdivision and as yet there are no houses in the area to connect to the power system. He said that this is not a normal flight path and there was still no indicaiton Monday morning why it would have been flying so low over the Bluff. However, Tibbettts said witnesses had reported hearing an engine that sounded as if it was in trouble shortly before the crash.

Tibbetts indicated that there is a paved area on the sub-division and the pilot may have been trying to put down there if the plane was in trouble.

The police have not yet commented on speculation that the plane’s cargo was illegal drugs but it is understood the plane may have been carrying extra fuel containers on board.

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  1. Da Brac Star says:

    Cayman Brac had some very good years when certain law enforcement officials were sent to the Brac and did something about the situation. However certain high and now senior officials and political figures tried their utmost to thwart and obstruct those very efforts and even now are trying to scale down the commitment to Cayman Brac by reducing man power and equipment.Even more shameful some of these same unscrupulous persons called themselves Brackers. This aircraft is a stark reminder of the unknown and dangerous forces that have always been at work in the area that "certain people" would go to great lengths to make people to believe that they don't exist. Mr Baines needs to redouble his efforts and comittment to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Could you change that photo as it has nothing to do with the plane that crashed in the Brac. That one is blue and white and the one that crashed is brown and white. This one has fixed landing gear and the one that crash had retractable landing gear to name a few. 🙂

  3. Anonymous says:

    Funny how everyone knows everything when something  happens. So now Cayman Brac all of a sudden has a stash of illegal drugs somewhere just becuase a plane crashed in the area…. I dont doubt that this is fishy but my God this is how rumors start, a bunch of people talking foolishness they don't have evidence to. Wait till they find the drugs and then you talk, until then keep unna mouths shut. Its disgusting!

    • Anonymous says:

      I would agree with you but in the past the marl road has proved to be astonishingly accurate!

  4. so Anonymous says:

    A small plane arives at Cayman brac shortly before midnight, circles a few times then hits a pole and crashes.  The two men inside the plane are from Mexico and Columbia.  No mention of wht they were carrying or what happened to it.  No one saw anything.  Situation normal.

    • Anonymous says:

      Do you mean District of Columbia (Washington DC) or Colombia the country. Just wondering.

  5. Anonymous says:

    FYI : The Cessna 172 has a range of 801miles, the on board fuel would extend that to a total of 2,943 miles. 

    I guest some-one forgot to tell the pilots that Power and Light had installed poles 2-3 weeks earlier; they pasted directly over the Brac's International Airport about 6-8miles before landing there so it had to have been their actual destination.

    XXXX

    I personnally have witness many flight between 11PM and 5AM over the south eastern section of Bluff in the early 1990s, but reporting it to the RCIP then had no effect, now that they have proof as well as news coverage maybe they'll do something.

    A Concern Bracer

     

    • Anonymous says:

      And for your Information it was a cessna 210 not a 172, And this is not a pic of the aircraft so I dont know why cns and Cayman 27 have this pic up.

  6. Anonymous says:

    FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!!!

    This situation just keeps getting better and better!!! You all sit and speculate as to what really occurred or surrounded the outcome of this aircraft accident but why don’t you all ask your selves these question:  Why was the Aerodrome Fire Service on the Brac restricted from entering the accidents scene until several hours after the actual accident had accrued?  Why was the chief fire office not informed of the present situation? Since we have police officers that are certified Aerodrome Firefighters we don’t need the actual Fire service over here, am I correct by saying that?  Oh! And don’t give me any sarcasm about there was not any fire at the scene. The fact is they still don’t have the expertise to assess the situation to determine if it could possibly escalate. Now read between the lines and determine the real reason why they were restricted for so long.    It’s so ironic to think that you all only sit and make assumptions based on other peoples B.S. … Please find some time to gather the facts of the situation and then post some correct information to enlighten me.   

    • Anonymous says:

      before you talk, please get your facts right. the first 5 firemen on the scene were all aerodrome officers! and the Chief was notified and the firmen were by the scene within minutes of the police search! it could have been an attack so police had to search the area first! you people relly sicken me with your B.S! sounds like your a typical Cayman Brac A.H! stay out of what doesnt concern you!

      • Anonymous says:

        An attack?!?  What are you smoking?

      • Anonymous says:

        It could’ve been “…an attack…”. That’s close to being the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen posted on this website. You “relly” are funny. It’s not every day you get to see somebody substitute their own reality for that of everyone else.

        PS: As Dick would say,you might wish to try some remedial grammar, with emphasis on capitalization and the correct deployment of apostrophes.

        • Anonymous says:

          Try remedial spelling as dick would say for words like "relly"

          • Anonymous says:

            No too literate yourself, right? To help you out, putting quotes around a word typically means that is’t being copied from somewhere else; in this case it’s from the previous quote. Putting quotes around a single word that is being copied, when that word is obviously spelled incorrectly, is typically a form of mocking or sarcasm regarding the linguistic skills of the quoted author; these are referred to as “sneer quotes”, in that they convey a “contemptuous or mocking smile, remark, or tone” (note the other use of quotes here, in that I copied this from a dictionary).

            PS – “dick” is a proper name and is written Dick. Relly….

      • Anonymous says:

        well im sure if people were watching this closely they would have seen people around the crash site to speculate that there may have been an attack otherwise this is a load of BS.  Obviously the crash is suspicious but why was the first thought that the plane was carrying drugs and not just an aircraft in trouble and ditching? All the responders in the brac should be seriously dealt with!!! Maybe then we can say whoever stated first that an attack may take place knew fully well why the plane was in the area in the first place since this is such a "Strange" occurrence

  7. Anonymous says:

    Bet the boys in the Brac are all "going fishnin" right now. lookin a "driff" . lol

    • Anonymous says:

      Fishing was excellent yesterday with the dolphins and king fish running like mad – maybe they got some of the stuff you all are saying is out there and were high and biting anything that crossed them

  8. UK spotlight says:

    Presumably you mean 700-800 miles!! if a small plane could 8000 miles I'm sure British Airways would buy hundreds of them.

    • Anonymous says:

      What post are you reading?  The ones I see say 7-800 and 801 miles??

  9. Veronica m says:

    Any loss of life is tragic however, I think the proof is in the pudding.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why the hell is it always in the pudding?? Can’t they keep proof somewhere else for a while where we can get it without reaching into that goo? Might help the conviction rate if the Crown and the Judgedon’t have to fish through someone’s leftover desert for proof. Just a thought.

  10. Anonymous says:

    I've always wondered why CIAA never leave on the runway lights. In the event of an emergency, pilots could see where the main runway is on the island. These guys probably crossed the runway unawares just minutes before they crashed. I live on the bluff and wonder how close we all came to that plane landing on our roofs. Scary! I've heard planes at night before, but always brush it off as a car in the distance or possibly an air ambulance. It's possible that these unidentified planes have been flying around more often than we think, doing God knows what.

    • Anon says:

      Unmanned fields generally have a device that turns on the runway lights if a nearby aircraft "clicks" for it on the right frequency. Dunno if the Brac has this though but many far lesser srtips do.

      • Anonymous says:

        I won't say for certain but I think it's mandatory for proper airports to have them.

  11. Anonymous says:

    forget about where it was coming from. There will always be a constant supply from there. WHAT WE NEED THE POLICE to do is find out who on the BRAC was waiting for them. Or are we going to be villiage idiots and believe that they were on a sight seeing tour that got way off course?!

  12. Caymanian Boat Captain says:

    It dosen't take a "rocket scientist" to figure out what this plane and it's two occupants were all about. I would not normally say this about the death of any person(s) but when you do what you do, cause harm, pain, misery, suffering and death toso many other's across the world by your actions, "I say Good Riddance" when this happens to you !! 

    "What goes around always come's around…….. they say"

     

  13. Anonymous says:

    It will be interesting to see what the crash investigators discover when they run the tail number / registration of the plane

  14. Anonymous says:

    There was a twin engined plane circling East End this am – probably circled 30 or 40 times.  

  15. Anonymous says:

    Hmmm lets see, extra fuel containers, a mexican and colombian in a small aircraft trying to land on a deserted road? Im bettingif the serious crime task force is serious, a couple hundred Kilos are stashed in the Brac and can be found.

    • Anonymous says:

      You don't mean the police find anything do you?  They haven't figured out yet that the drug dealers call them and tell them a shipment is landing on one side of the island that it is actually landing on the other side.

      The local dealers probably have the stash already.  Like another poster said them Brac boys afishin. lol!

  16. Anonymous says:

    I would like to know where the picture came from. The plane that crashed looks nothing like the one in the picture, It's brown and white and has no blue on it all all.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Cocaine Cowboys are back!!! Braap!!!

  18. romeo mike says:

    The aircraft is actually a Cessna 210 'Centurion'. Looking at the photo, there is no strut between the wing and the fuselage as you would find on Cessna's smaller siblings.

  19. I TOLD YOU SO! says:

    There are none so "desperate"  as those who chase the $dollar. No question about it, this was illegal activity. They did not  contact  flight control operations. Why?? You got it!! 

  20. M says:

    Couldn't have anything to do with dropping drugs could it? Heard it was a Mexican registeredplane and we all know they have plenty of them over there? Before anyone does jump me for my assumption think about it. Drugs on the up in the Islands no matter what anyone says. 2 people in the plane – one to fly, one to drop. Flying so low? Not to mention it being done over Cayman Brac which for obvious reasons would have a less controlled and monitored air space by both authorities and the public – and by the public I mean less people to see a low flying small aircraft dropping bundles of narcotics. Think about it.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Call the USCG if your want to know where the plane came from.

  22. Anonymous says:

    In reading the items in this thread one would suspect there is something going on here and on the sister islands that needs to be checked out.

  23. Anonymous says:

    a plane like that has a range of 7-800 miles max.  Should narrow down take-off locations quite a bit.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not with 2 passengers, headwinds, and cargo – more like 550 miles.  Agreed that they were fully committed to whatever they were doing, didn't want to land at the international airport (a few miles west) and would certainly have been running on fumes!

  24. In the House of Tempura says:

    Gone are the days of old when men stood tall and flights abound and those flush with dough$$$$$$$ had their way with the men in play, alas a rising star in the ranks has not achieved his rightful planks to continue the tradition of protector and guardian of the nefarious activities of these islands. Gone are those who caused alarm and harm to this way of life, to be forgotten for their strife.There are those who know exactly what has been going on in the sister islands for a very long time but chose to ignore these activities for their own financial benefit. The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.

    • Stiffed-Necked Fool says:

      I hope the right authorities completely search that plane for all the information that may still be inside and find out contact names & numbers for who those drugs were being delivered to. It would only be a blind fool who believes that this was the 1st trip of its kind!

    • Anonymous says:

      Huh???   Been reading too many fantasy novels I think    Come on……

    • Anonymous says:

      Interesting writing style, but I wholly agree that “The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” I daresay it always is.

  25. The Prophet says:

    These un-identified planes are always flying low altitude around the Brac, Little Cayman and Grand Cayman.

    Police need to keep a watchful eye on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman airspace, some strange things been happening.

    • Anonymusket says:

      these flights are not new to the islands. they were a lot more of them 25-30 years ago, just that we have less of them now. The police have being doing a good job in this area of protection.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not only Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman also I heard a plane flying low over Pappagallo last Sunday night around 11:30

  26. Anonymous says:

    Tryin to fly under the radar in the caribbean, little did they know that theres a little 150 foot tall rock bluff. Condolences to those lost but in the end, they were flying wayyy too low and probably doing something they shouldnt have been. Natural selection, it does exist

    • Anonymous says:

      the report said that the plane was said to have circled a few times.  It was right over a raceing strip of road so its more than likely they were trying to land more so than just hitting an obstacle by  chance.