Caribbean News Now!

By Caribbean News Now contributor

ST THOMAS, USVI -- A joint federal and local search and rescue mission entered its third full day on Monday in the US Virgin Islands, as efforts continued to locate three missing passengers from a downed aircraft. The privately-owned Piper Aztec was en route from St Croix to St Thomas on Saturday morning.

The pilot, Kirby Hodge, and three passengers: Valerie Jackson Thompson, Rachel Hamilton and Darwin Carr, were on board the flight which left the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport at about 4:40 a.m. The plane’s last radio contact with the FAA tower came when the plane was about eight miles out from St Thomas.

The primary mission of the flight was to transport a shipment of Virgin Islands Daily News newspapers to St Croix and to return to St Thomas with a shipment of The Avis newspapers.

The US Coast Guard launched assets including an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, a 25-foot response boat and a US Coast Guard Auxiliary fixed-wing aircraft to search for signs of the downed aircraft and possible survivors.

At about 1:45 pm on Saturday, a US Coast Guard helicopter makes visual contact with one of the passengers -- Valerie Thompson. The chopper guides the local government’s response vessel to her. She is rescued safely and returned to the Crown Bay homeport dock to a waiting ambulance and EMS crew.

On Sunday afternoon, the local search team recovered a bundle of The Avis newspapers about three miles west of Buck Island; however, in the three-day search, teams have not identified an aircraft debris field or an oil slick on the ocean’s surface.

Governor John de Jongh on Monday said the prayers of the people of the Virgin Islands are with the families and loved ones of the three missing passengers of the downed aircraft. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the passengers who remain unaccounted for. I am grateful to the local and federal government personnel, the volunteers and the private companies that are aggressively searching for the three missing passengers. Let us continue to pray for the rescue or recovery of these three individuals.”

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