An aircraft with four people on board is unaccounted for after departing from Canouan in the southern Grenadines on Friday afternoon, iWitness News has confirmed with a well-placed national security source.
The source noted that no official statement has been made about the aircraft, N337LR which is said to have embarked on “on a sightseeing excursion” from Canouan with three passengers and the pilot on board.
The aircraft departed the island at 2:27 p.m. but air traffic control authorities are said to have no specific details about the pilot’s name and address.
Reports are that initial contact with the aircraft occurred at 2:33 p.m., after which all communication with the aircraft ended.
The aircraft was expected to return to Canouan at 4:27 p.m. but the pilot’s final contact with the tower occurred at 2:33 p.m. “marking the onset of an inexplicable loss of all subsequent contact”.
Air traffic control officials have noted the absence of any distress call and neither radar signals nor frequencies have been detected since the last communication from the aircraft.
The aircraft was said to have “sufficient fuel reserve for 4 hours and 2 hours of airtime”.
Authorities in Barbados, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Martinique have been notified and “requested to exercise vigilance”.
The Control Tower at Argyle International Airport contacted the SVG Coast Guard Service, which is said to have initiated a search for any potential debris
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aircraft registration database says N337LR is a two-engine, fixed-wing, 21-seat Gulfstream aircraft that was manufactured in 1981.
We dont even have our own helicopter or aeronautical response capability to be used for SAR in situations like this. Time we step up our game.