A private plane with four people on board disappeared on Monday during a flight from Bahamas to Miami, prompting search teams from both countries to mobilize in an effort to locate the aircraft and its passengers.
The Piper PA-34 Seneca, registration N212ML, had taken off from Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas, headed for Miami Executive Airport, as reported by the Miami Herald.
The last recorded contact occurred around 11:00 a.m., after tracking data showed sudden changes in the aircraft's behavior.
According to FlightAware records cited by the outlet, the speed fluctuated rapidly and the plane descended from approximately 10,000 to 3,700 feet in just three minutes.
The trajectory also shows that the aircraft made a circle before information stopped appearing in the tracking system.
Authorities estimate that the plane may have crashed about 15 miles from the island of Andros, in Bahamian territory, although rescue teams are still attempting to locate it.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force received the report and requested support from the United States Coast Guard around 2:00 p.m.
The U.S. agency deployed a HC-144 Ocean Sentry plane to assist in search efforts, as reported on social media.
According to the Miami Herald, the flight path of the small plane passed through an area of bad weather near the northern tip of Andros. So far, however, authorities have not linked the weather conditions to the disappearance.
At 5:00 p.m., Bahamian authorities reported that the search operations had not yet yielded positive results.
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