At least 12 people, including a popular musician, died on Monday when a small plane quickly crashed into the Caribbean Sea after they had left the Honduran island of Roatan, said civil servants and local media. The plane of Lanhsa Airlines left Ratan, one of the most important tourist destinations of the Midden -American country, on the way to the port of La Ceiba on mainland Honduran.
The plane “made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water,” said Civil Aviation Official Carlos Padilla.
“The plane almost fell on us. I was fishing,” a fisherman told whose name was not given to HCH television.
The fire brigade said that 12 people were killed in the crash while five others were saved.
Rescue operations in the aftermath of a plane crash on location given as Ratan, Bay Islands, Honduras, March 17, 2025. / Credit: Policia Nacional de Honduras / Handout via Reuters Via Reuters
Dramatic video placed on social media by the National Police showed rescue workers who wore a survivor on a stretcher to the rocky coast. Another video showed a similar scene, in which the police reported that only one body was missing when rescue teams continued their search.
Ratan Fire Captain Franklin Borjas told The Reuters News Agency that survivors were taken to a nearby hospital, but does not provide information about their disorders. Borjas said Reuters that the search and rescue efforts were complicated by the site.
“It was hard to gain access to the accident (site) because there are 30 meters of rocks and you can't get there while walking or swimming,” he said Reuters. “Helping the divers with the rescue have no visibility.”
Honduran musician Aurelio Martinez, a popular member of the Garifuna music scene, was one of the dead, local media reported. According to the Kennedy Center, Martinez founded the Lita Ariran Enemble, one of the first Garifuna groups that can be seen on an internationally distributed album.
“Martinez's virtuoso so-called musicality and passionate performances made him a main pillar of the La Cieba Music Scene, where he was best loved for his view on Punta Rock, the energy-rich, Garifuna roots-infused pop-healed that, according to the Midden-America in the 1990s, in the 1990s.
Singer-songwriter, guitarist and percussionist Aurelio Martinez of the band Aurelio performs on stage in the Hollywood Bowl presents the 38th birthday Playboy Jazz Festival Day 1 on the Hollywood Bowl on 11 June 2016 in Hollywood, California. / Credit: Mathew Imaging via Getty
Among the wounded passengers was a 40-year-old French citizen who was transferred to a hospital in the city of San Pedro Sula on the mainland, said Major Wilmer Guerrero of the fire brigade.
Fifteen passengers were on the plane, together with two pilots and a stewardess, according to the police.
The crash, which happened about half a mile from the coast of the island, was caused by an “apparent mechanical failure” on the Jetstream 41 made by the British, according to the police statement.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said that she “had activated an emergency committee immediately” that consisted of the armed forces, firefighters and others to help the victims of the accident.
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