Overview
- The U.S.-registered Gulfstream G200, registration N318JF, declared a serious mechanical emergency about 16 nautical miles southwest of La Romana and turned back toward the airport on Sunday, according to Dominican authorities.
- Public flight-tracking logs and social video show the jet made multiple circling maneuvers, aborted landing attempts, then left the paved surface during its final approach, broke apart and erupted into a large fireball inside the airport perimeter.
- Emergency crews extinguished the blaze but both cockpit crew members were killed; Dominican reports have named the pilots as Erick Javier Diago and Rudy Ghazal, though formal identity confirmations from investigators remain pending.
- FAA registration records list the aircraft as a 2004 Gulfstream G200 owned by Aibonito Aviation LLC of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and investigators from the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC) and the Aviation Accident Investigation Commission (CIAA) are recovering wreckage and flight data for analysis.
- The flight had refueled at La Romana and was due to continue to Austin, Texas to pick up former MLB catcher Yadier Molina and his family, and investigators say formal analysis of cockpit and recorder data will be needed to establish a definitive cause and any wider safety lessons.