A multi-day cross-regional search operation for a small aircraft that vanished over the Caribbean Sea has concluded in a hopeful outcome: authorities from St. Vincent and the Grenadines confirmed Monday that the missing Dominican Republic-registered plane has been located, and the two crew members on board have been pulled from the area alive and unharmed.
The twin-engine aircraft in question is a Beech 58P Pressurized Baron, marked with the registration number HI-1145. It dropped off air traffic control radars on Friday, shortly after departing Argyle International Airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The plane was en route to A.N.R. Robinson International Airport in Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago, a short flight scheduled to take just over one hour to complete. Its sudden disappearance immediately triggered a large-scale multinational search mobilization, bringing together aviation, security and emergency response agencies from across the Caribbean region.
Clair Leacock, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, made the official announcement of the plane’s recovery in a radio address. Leacock credited the breakthrough to close coordinated collaboration between local, regional and international law enforcement and emergency teams. While he confirmed the critical positive update that both people on board had survived with no fatalities reported, he declined to release the exact location where the aircraft was located or share specific details about how the rescue operation unfolded.
“I cannot share all the information we have on this matter,” Leacock stated during the interview. He clarified that the decision to withhold additional details comes out of concern that premature disclosure could compromise active intelligence gathering and ongoing investigative work into what caused the plane to go missing.
Flight tracking logs give a clearer picture of the plane’s final moments before contact was lost. At approximately 11:52 a.m. on Friday, the aircraft stopped communicating with air traffic controllers. Before its signal cut out, the plane was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), cruising at an altitude of around 4,025 feet with a ground speed of roughly 142 knots. Its last recorded position placed it over the southern Caribbean Sea, close to the territorial waters of either Grenada or Venezuela, a location that had stoked anxiety among aviation officials and the crew’s family members waiting for updates in the days after the disappearance.
In the immediate aftermath of the plane going off radar, local officials maintained constant, real-time communication with leading regional security bodies to coordinate the search. The Regional Security System (RSS) and the Caribbean Community’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) both took part in the operation, alongside local emergency teams. Leacock added that investigators have already gathered additional information about the two people on board the flight, but all details will remain under wraps until the inquiry progresses further.
This successful recovery brings a rare positive close to a high-stakes regional search that pulled resources from multiple Caribbean nations after the small plane vanished over open water. Authorities have indicated that they will publish a full update on the incident and the investigation’s findings once the inquiry is complete.