A multi-national search and rescue operation is underway in the Eastern Caribbean after a small Dominican-registered aircraft vanished from radar screens earlier this month, triggering the highest level of international aviation emergency alert.
The aircraft in question is a Beechcraft BE-58P, identified by registration number HI-1145, which is owned by Dominican agroindustrial firm JM Espinosa Agroindustria, SRL. The alert originated from the Area Control Centre based at Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, when air traffic controllers lost both radar tracking and radio communication with the aircraft. Following this loss of contact, the facility formally notified the Search and Rescue division of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation and initiated emergency procedures aligned with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These standard protocols eventually led controllers to declare a DETRESFA distress phase, the most severe alert category reserved for aircraft confirmed or suspected to be facing imminent grave danger.
Flight logs from the Integrated Aeronautical Management System (SIAGA) outline the aircraft’s final weeks of activity. The plane first departed Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic on May 16, heading for Canouan Island Airport located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. After arriving at its destination, the aircraft completed multiple short regional flights: on June 10, it conducted a short out-and-back trip departing from and returning to Canouan, and two days later, it took off on a 30-nautical-mile local hop between airfields within St. Vincent and the Grenadines, departing from the capital Kingstown.
It was after this June 12 departure from Kingstown that contact with HI-1145 was permanently lost. Ever since, Dominican civil aviation authorities have been collaborating closely with regional aviation bodies and international rescue partners to coordinate search efforts and gather information on the aircraft’s possible location. As of the latest update, the investigation into the aircraft’s disappearance remains open, with search teams continuing to comb through potential areas of interest in the Eastern Caribbean.
The incident has become a focal point for the Caribbean aviation industry, as the activation of full ICAO emergency protocols and the sustained multi-agency search effort highlight the cross-border coordination required to respond to missing aircraft incidents in the region.