Before the aircraft crashed and killed its two occupants, armed men seized a Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop from an airport in Belize.
The aircraft, owned by Maya Island Air, was taken from Placencia Airport (PLJ), which is situated in Eastern Belize close to the coast, according to local news sources.
On October 16, 2023, at around 4 a.m. local time, the airport is said to have been broken into. A security guard was allegedly tied up after being approached by gunmen.
Two persons are reported to have taken off from the airport and crashed the plane close to where it was seized.
It is acknowledged that there's a chance the plane struck a lamppost before the crash.
The pilot and the second occupant of the downed Cessna were killed when emergency personnel arrived at the scene of the incident. The aircraft had already caught fire.
"We yield to the police because it wasn't during operational hours and wasn't an actual civil aviation flight or a commercial flight," stated Nigel Carter, director of the Belize Department of Civil Aviation. We have agreements with the police that allow us to assist them with their investigations in cases where they are outside of regular business hours.
Carter said that although the agency is certain that the aircraft is owned by Maya Island Air, this cannot be verified in the absence of additional research.
The investigation showed that a security guard at the airstrip was approached by four men brandishing guns and tied him up. After that, he heard the sounds of an aircraft taking off, and then he heard a loud bang and an explosion, according to Hilberto Romero, regional commander of Belize Police.
An unidentified Cessna 208 Caravan crashed and burned to complete destruction after being stolen from Placencia Airfield (MZPL), Belize with two people on board. Both did not survive the accident. The aircraft contacted electrical wires and impacted a swamp close the the airport.… pic.twitter.com/I83PK4d6s9
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) October 17, 2023
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