The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

ROYAL Bahamas Defence Force Commodore Floyd Moxey yesterday defended the force’s response to the plane crash that killed an American family of four, saying he was satisfied with its search and rescue efforts even though relatives ultimately found the victims themselves.

The family was killed on Monday when their US-registered Piper PA-34 aircraft, N212ML, crashed in waters off North Andros while travelling from Great Harbour Cay to Opa-locka, Florida.

The victims were pilot Mario Lamar, his wife, Lili, and their grandchildren, Sofia Sosa and Christian Sosa.

Their relatives found the victims near Red Bays, Andros, on Tuesday after organising their own search teams and appealing publicly for assistance amid frustration with the official response.

Commodore Moxey offered condolences to the family but said he was satisfied with the joint search involving the RBDF and its international partners.

He said an aircraft belonging to one of the RBDF’s international partners had been within five nautical miles of the area where the plane was believed to have gone down on Monday, but was forced to retreat because of bad weather.

The RBDF conducted aerial surveillance on Tuesday but did not locate the aircraft or its passengers.

Relatives later found one of the victims.

“A civilian — one of our own family members — was the person who located our loved one,” the family said, “and had to bring their deceased relative onto their own boat.”

The family said at the time that neither Bahamian authorities nor the US Coast Guard was searching the waters.

About an hour later, relatives confirmed that the remaining passengers had also been found dead.

The family credited relatives and Andros residents with assisting in the search, but said family members ultimately located their loved ones and brought them aboard their own vessels.

RBDF officials appeared to respond to the criticism on Tuesday, saying an aerial search had been conducted for “a few” hours before receiving support from the US Coast Guard.

Commodore Moxey said RBDF personnel had also been aboard the family’s boat at some point during the search.

He did not directly reject the family’s criticism, but stressed the force’s continuing efforts following the crash.

The RBDF is still trying to locate the aircraft.

The family, meanwhile, said it is working with the US Coast Guard to bring the victims’ bodies home and has asked for privacy as relatives mourn.

Mr Lamar and his family had been returning home after spending their holiday at their vacation home in Great Harbour Cay.

The 80-year-old pilot had more than four decades of flying experience and was also an attorney.

Christian Sosa, 22, was a recent graduate who specialised in marketing and worked as a freelance photographer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Sofia Sosa, 28, worked as a neonatal physician assistant at a medical centre in Miami.