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Two Dead After Hijacked Plane Crashes In Placencia Predawn
posted (October 16, 2023)
Tonight the residents of the usually quiet and tourist- oriented Placencia peninsula are trying to figure out what the heck happened early this morning when narcos came to their village to steal a plane.

They ended up crashing it causing a commotion on the peninsula at dawn - fortunately it didn't go down in a residential area - but the two men on board both perished.

But was this incident narco-related? And who were the brazen pair that jacked an entire airplane?

With some help from our friends, our 7News team was first on the ground in Placencia this morning. Here's that story.

Courtney Menzies:
These charred remains aren't from a narco plane that was burnt to conceal evidence, as is usually the case. Rather, it's a Maya Island aircraft that was stolen right from the Placencia airstrip. The plane jackers reportedly held up the security guard before taking off, but, shortly after, it crashed here at mile 21, sending the two persons on board to a fiery death.

The bodies of the two men - a Venezuelan and an Argentinian - as well as the remains of the aircraft were removed from the scene as police began their investigation into how and why these men attempted this heist.

And the nearby residents are anxiously awaiting answers, since they say nothing like this has ever happened before. Many of them left their homes in the dark of the predawn hours to watch as the blaze consumed the plane and the sound of explosions could be heard.

But while one resident feared that his brother's house was on the fire, another said he frequently hears suspicious activity near the airstrip.

Dean Cabral, Resident
"What I heard, about around 4 something, we heard this great bang, boom! And it woke me up and I got up and after my wife pulled the curtain I saw this bright light, so I thought it was a fire at the house for my brother over here but when I got on the porch and I saw it, it was a blaze beyond the house so we got out there on the porch, we didn't go to the scene, we just looked from here and I start shouting that there's a fire, there's a fire into the neighborhood here to kinda alert people. We didn't know it was a plane until afterwards, we got to know it was a plane."

"But there was this big flame up into the air, this great flame and smoke was popping and everything and that was all we know."

"It's something rare that something like this took place, it was kind of shocking to a lot of people, I guess that's why so many people came out when they heard the story. So it's very hard for everyone to know that a plane ran into these electrical wires, that's funny."

Calbert Gardiner, Resident
"I knew it was a plane from the get go because I heard it when it took off. I heard it when it took off and I saw when it went down, I'd say about 8 to 10 seconds after it took off, I tell my wife, it went down. So I knew it was a plane."

"No it's not uncommon, it's drugs related. Something going on at this airport, all kind of weird stuff going on around here and I think it has to do with narcotics."

And in his 6 decades living in that area, none of the aircraft he's heard in the night have ever crash landed.

But at 4:00 am it was dark and raining, and the plane clipped this high tension wire, sending it hurtling to the ground, simultaneously damaging the lamppost and plunging the village into darkness.

BEL workers were on the scene to restore electricity, and the Department of Civil Aviation was also there to start an investigation - though as of this morning, the director had only few details.

Nigel Carter, Director, Civil Aviation
"Preliminarily we understand that the aircraft is one that belongs to one of the local operators, we haven't checked that to guarantee that that is the case because we'd have to look at the plates on the aircraft, the identification plates on their aircraft, so that hasn't happened yet, and as such we can't give you a definitive answer as to the registration of the aircraft."

"It wasn't an actual civil aviation flight or commercial flight and as such we yield to the police, we have certain agreements with the police so that in the instance of situations where it falls outside of normal operations we support the police in their investigations."

"Basically we work with the identification of the aircraft, if there's any information that is onboard that may be onboard equipment that we can retrieve, then we'll be able to retrieve some of that information and assist them with that."

But as Carter said, the police are taking the lead on the investigation, and ACP Hilberto Romero confirmed it was indeed a Maya Island Air plane. He gave us preliminary details of the cops' findings.

ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"Investigation revealed a security guard who was working at the airstrip was approached by four male persons, armed with firearms who tied him up. Thereafter, he heard the sound of an aircraft starting and thereafter he heard a loud bang and an explosion. Police are currently conducting an investigation. The area has been or is being searched at this time, uh, for evidence."

Jules Vasquez
"Now is there any indication how they reached there? We have heard anecdotal reports that they arrived at the airstrip by boat."

ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"Uh, we cannot confirm how they arrived. That is a part of the investigation."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, from what you all know at this time, is this being looked at as narcos?"

ACP Hilberto Romero, OCED
"We are looking at it from all angles. Several items were recovered from the remains of the aircraft and those are being analyzed. And we will have a further report as to what'll was found on the aircraft."

One of the key clues are fuel containers reportedly found in the aircraft - suggesting that the pilots were going on a long run and would need to re-fuel.

But the pilots also had local counterparts who reportedly brought them to the area by sea. So, now that It ended in a fiery crash, some questions have answers, but there are many known unknowns tonight.

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