7/10/26 - Cessna 402 down in Andros Bahamas - 10 killed

[k9medic]

A Flamingo Air Cessna 402 crashed on approach to San Andros airport in the Bahamas killing all 10 people on board.

10 killed after small plane crashes in the Bahamas

Ten people have died after a small plane crashed in the Bahamas, prompting the government to temporarily ground Flamingo Air flights.

apnews.com

 

[bonefishpete]

Wish the Bahamas would open up US owned charter operations for inter Island flights.
Do it for safety reasons if no other.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Wish the Bahamas would open up US owned charter operations for inter Island flights.
Do it for safety reasons if no other.

So would you have a problem if the US opened up charter operations for Bahamian operators on the US mainland?

 

[bonefishpete]

So would you have a problem if the US opened up charter operations for Bahamian operators on the US mainland?

No they would be no competition to US operators.

 

[CENTURION]

So would you have a problem if the US opened up charter operations for Bahamian operators on the US mainland?

 

[Doc Holliday]

No they would be no competition to US operators.

So we open up our skies for foreign owned airlines to operate point to point in the US?

Really want to go there? How does that work with cabotage laws?

 

[k9medic]

Unfortunately, Flamingo Air does not have the best safety record. There is rumor that this same plane turned around earlier in the day due to a fire. NOT confirmed though.

 

[MackMooney]

Last i heard, US operators aren't exactly free of crashes

 

[bonefishpete]

So we open up our skies for foreign owned airlines to operate point to point in the US?

Really want to go there? How does that work with cabotage laws?

No this would be Bahamas only.
The lack of airlift in the Bahamas hurts tourism. Stifles Bahamian owned businesses.

 

[hindsight2020]

1) Opening up the Jones act would summarily lead to the 121 critters jumping off that sinking ship faster than Peter jumping off the Jesus wagon when the going got tough. Remember, we're all rent-seekers [to someone else] in this life.

2) As to the Bahamas? Literal on the books client state of the US. American upper-K'ers largely treat the place like their playground. "Sovereignty" is a rank pretense when it comes to the Bahamas. Spare me the fake benevolence on the part of US tourism interests.

There's no novelty to remediate here: No buck, no buck rogers. It ain't that deep.

 

[Doc Holliday]

No this would be Bahamas only.

Ah, got it. So we allow Bahamian registered aircraft into our market to do point to point. Other than 14 CFR Part 129 regulations how do we insure the US flying public is being safely flown on these Bahamian aircraft? And now that we are tossing out cabotage what other third world countries will demand the same rights citing our allowance of the Bahamian carriers?

The lack of airlift in the Bahamas hurts tourism. Stifles Bahamian owned businesses.

So? Isn't that a problem for the Bahamas? What's to prevent an investment group from going to Nassau and proposing a new Bahamian flagged carrier to start operations?

 

[k9medic]

Some thoughts and speculations...

There is a track log return showing the plane a 66kts at the completion of a base leg turn. If this is the case then that plane was way too slow in the turn, especially at the weight that it must have been with 10 people on board. It does not look like an engine loss as there was no apprciable speed reduction or course deviation prior to the base turn.

@hindsight2020, Bahamians can be tourists too in their own country.

You are not wrong that there are many Americans that treat the Bahamas like a 52nd state but the most salient issue with the lack of any reliable airlift, is the fact that Bahamians cannot get to/from their needed destinations with any certainty. Nothing worse than living on a family island and being required to go to Nassau to file paperwork when you can't find a reliable flight.

Cherokee Air in Marsh Harbour closed their charter business. Flamingo Air and Pineapple Air in Nassau have both had a multitude of issues. That leaves the larger air carriers to do the lifting and they don't always fly to the places that people need to be.

As to being soverign, unfortunately the Chinese have done more damage to the sovereignty of the Bahamas than any other country. Labor (legal at least) comes from China and Cuba.