No Distress Call, No Wreckage: Mystery deepens after aircraft vanishes over Caribbean Sea

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Authorities across the South-Eastern Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago are trying to unfold the mystery after a private Beech 58P Pressurized Baron aircraft vanished mid-air without a trace during a flight from St. Vincent and Grenadines to Tobago.

The aircraft described is a Dominican Republic-registered with registration number HI-1145. It departed from Argyle International Airport in St. Vincent at 11:52 a.m. on Friday, June 12. It was destined for the ANR Robinson International Airport  in Tobago. However, the aircraft never made it to the destination.

The aircraft was being monitored on the flight tracking website Flightradar24, before disappearance. The reports indicate that the plane was allegedly flying low under the visual flight rules (VFR),at an altitude of 4,025 feet and travelling at a speed of approximately 142 knots. The air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft during the journey and all data abruptly ceased mid-flight.

According to the last known coordinates, the aircraft disappeared over the Southern Caribbean Sea, in the vicinity of Grenadian or Venezuelan territorial waters.

The Trinidad Guardian indicated that a source at Argyle Air Traffic Control contacted Piarco in Trinidad and Tobago about the matter and they confirmed that regional authorities are actively “looking for the aircraft.”

Officials have not confirmed that the aircraft crashed, entered the sea, or suffered any specific emergency. However,  information remains limited, with officials not yet providing full details on the flight or the circumstances surrounding the aircraft’s disappearance.

The flight records show that HI-1145 successfully completed several flights between the islands of Caouan and mainland St. Vincent on June 10 and June 12, without any issue. The vanishing of HI-1145 is now the second aircraft to disappear after traversing the Canouan to St. Vincent flight path, with the previous disappearance in December 2023, which is still unresolved.

Search operations are underway as aviation authorities across Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines await any communication or signs of the missing aircraft. Authorities are expected to provide further updates as more information becomes available regarding the disappearance.