Police are continuing a probe into reports of a plane crash in the area of the Eastern Road on Tuesday.
According to Police Liaison Officer Superintendent Hulan Hanna, although reports circulating state that an explosion from a flare gun might have been what witnesses thought was a plane, the police have not come to that determination.
“The information came to the police from members of the public, but we further spoke to persons independent to the persons who made the initial report. They seemed to indicate that they saw something, and all of them were of the same mindset that it was an airplane,” Mr. Hanna said.
This has not been discounted, he said, adding that the police investigations have not substantiated anything yet.
“From time to time, you might have persons using small planes for unscrupulous reasons. And so, why the area is not the intensive subject of any search, rescue or salvage operations, certainly we are still making visits to both the coastline areas and the general vicinity. So if something comes up, the police will be on top of it,” said Mr. Hanna.
A flare gun, he said, is used in some instances by persons
On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard, police go-fast boats and all other armed forces, combed the coastline of the northeastern Bahamas in search of a plane that reportedly crashed.
The rumours started about 8 a.m. that a Bahamasair plane had crashed in waters off the Eastern Road, but Bahamasair officials said all of its fleet was accounted for.
The CNN cable network also reportedly broadcast an unconfirmed report that a U.S. carrier had crashed.
The Bahamas Information Services said Nassau Air Traffic Control had no radar evidence of a missing plane or a crash.
Additionally, according to aviation sources, the Nassau Control Tower is equipped with a radar “BRITE” display which would normally detect a “target” within a range of 20 to 25 miles from Nassau International Airport from about a 50-foot altitude up to an “unlimited” height.
Another source indicated that on occasion, aircraft that have lost radio communication, referred to as NORDOs, sometimes enter the airspace for landing, and certain procedures are in place for such an eventuality.
However, no unaccounted for aircraft was observed by air controllers on duty during the time of the reported “incident.”
Nonetheless, one non-aviation-related “observer” said a smoking plane went down in the Eastern area of New Providence, and that he had seen it.
Another person expressed a ‘conspiracy theory’ that a flight out of Eleuthera carried drugs and that the Drug Enforcement Unit shot it down.
Superintendent Raymond Gibson, officer in charge of the DEU, denied the claim.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
