Four rescued in Turks and Caicos after airplane crashes near the capital
Four people were rescued in the Turks and Caicos after their airplane crashed off the British territory’s capital of Grand Turk.
In a statement, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force credited the late afternoon rescue to “an intensive and exhaustive combined operation” involving the police, emergency personnel and U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. However, the Turks and Caicos SUN newspaper reported that the four individuals, traveling onboard a private plane, “were rescued by a local fisherman after 3:30 p.m.”
“They are heading to Grand Turk where they will receive medical attention,” the SUN said in a post on its Facebook page.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Michael Francois, thanking the public for its assistance, said: “I especially want to thank fisherman Kellison Talbot, who did an exceptional job in this rescue. He displayed courage and selflessness by placing his life on the line.”
The police force, he said, cordoned off a section at the beach and established a command center.
Earlier in the day, authorities had reported that police officers and emergency response personnel were engaged in a search-and-rescue operation off the coast of Grand Turk after an airplane went down.
Preliminary reports said that at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday, a 911 call said a flight originating from St. Kitts and Nevis in the eastern Caribbean with four individuals onboard crashed 17 miles southeast of the international airport in Grand Turk, the Royal Turks and Caicos Police said in a statement.
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 1:59 PM.
