Small plane from Florida crashes off Bahamas, four dead

[August 19, 2014]  MIAMI (Reuters) - Four people died after their small plane crashed in the sea off the island of Grand Bahama on Monday, according to Bahamian officials.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration first reported the twin-engine Cessna went missing around 11 a.m., U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jon-Paul Rios said.

“I was told it had gone down in the vicinity of Freeport, Bahamas, about 6 miles (10 km) from the airport,” he said.

The plane left the Ormond Beach Municipal Airport in northeastern Florida headed toward the island chain about 60 miles (100 km) off the U.S. coast.

Bahamian police said there were no survivors. Rescue workers later recovered the bodies and brought them ashore, according to local media reports. No information about the passengers was available while next of kin were being notified.

(Reporting by Zachary Fagenson and Vandyke Hepburn; Editing by David Adams, Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney)

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