Overview
- The Gulfstream G200 with U.S. registration N318JF crashed while attempting an emergency landing after the crew reported a loss of power in one engine about 16 nautical miles southwest of La Romana on Sunday.
- Both people aboard — pilot Erick Javier Diago and copilot Rudy Ghazal, both U.S. citizens — died and there were no passengers on the charter flight bound for Austin, Texas.
- The jet is linked in records to Aibonito Aviation of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and initial reports say the aircraft impacted the airport runway area and produced a large column of black smoke.
- The Instituto Dominicano de Aviación Civil and the Comisión Investigadora de Accidentes de Aviación have opened an active investigation that will examine wreckage, cockpit communications and maintenance logs to determine probable cause.
- Emergency teams including airport firefighters, migration and customs personnel responded at the scene, and the crash raised immediate concern because La Romana is a key tourism gateway whose operations and public confidence could be affected while investigators work.