Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 11

Bahamas Suspends Flamingo Air Certificate After 10 Die in Crash and Separate Plane Fire

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 11

Bahamas Suspends Flamingo Air Certificate After 10 Die in Crash and Separate Plane Fire

Q: What did the investigation ultimately reveal about Flamingo Air's troubled safety record following the tragic day?

The investigation did not yet produce a final cause for the North Andros crash or the runway fire, but it did establish that Flamingo Air had a significant pattern of prior safety problems. In the immediate aftermath, Bahamian regulators suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate as a precaution while the Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority and Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas examined both incidents. Officials said the move was meant to protect public safety while investigators reviewed the airline’s operations and maintenance record. That review brought renewed attention to a string of earlier incidents involving Flamingo Air aircraft. Over the past decade, the carrier had multiple landing-gear failures, including a right main gear collapse in South Bimini in 2016, a nose gear collapse in Nassau in 2020, and a left main gear collapse in Black Point, Exuma, in 2022. Investigators had also previously examined an incident in which a Flamingo Air flight operated with a boarding door open in flight. So, while the crash inquiry itself remained ongoing, what emerged from the broader investigation was not a single isolated failure but a troubled safety record marked by repeated mechanical and operational incidents. That history was a key reason regulators moved quickly to ground the airline pending further findings.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 11

10 people were confirmed dead after a Cessna 402 from Nassau crashed into bushes before landing at San Andros Airport, with Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis saying one survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
Hours earlier, a Flamingo Air flight bound for Mayaguana turned back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, and the aircraft caught fire on the runway after passengers deplaned safely.
The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas then temporarily suspended Flamingo Air's Air Operator Certificate, calling it a precautionary safety measure rather than a compliance penalty.
Investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority and CAAB inspectors remain in North Andros, while officials are still verifying the crash flight manifest after an initial report said seven were aboard.