The Bahamas plane crash that killed ten people on Andros Island has devastated the country’s music community — and it happened on the nation’s Independence Day.

Among the dead were members of a well-known local band and a DJ, according to the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union.

What Happened

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority reported that a Cessna 402 went down just after 1 p.m. local time on Friday, July 10.

The aircraft, carrying Bahamas registration C6-FLX and operated by Flamingo Air, had departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport on Andros Island — the largest island in the archipelago.

According to the AAIA, the plane encountered difficulties and crashed into bushes in North Andros before it could land.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Airport Authority, and emergency medical personnel all responded to the site. The AAIA extended condolences to the families of those affected as recovery efforts got underway.

A Shifting Toll

The casualty figures changed over the course of the day.

The AAIA initially reported seven fatalities. Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis later clarified during a news conference that ten people had been aboard, and that one person survived the impact.

That survivor subsequently died, Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles confirmed.

Davis wrote publicly that he and his wife were praying for families facing unbearable grief, and asked that those affected be given compassion, privacy, and support while the investigation proceeds.

The victims’ identities were not immediately released.

The Music Community Grieves

The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed that members of the country’s entertainment world were among the dead.

The union said the deceased included members of The Pond Band as well as a DJ, describing them as talented and vibrant figures whose passion, dedication, and artistry had touched countless lives and enriched the cultural fabric of the Bahamas.

For a small nation where working musicians form a tight and visible community, the loss cuts unusually deep.

A Second Flamingo Air Incident

The crash was not the only aviation emergency involving the carrier that week.

Bahamian Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis told reporters that another Flamingo Air flight — this one bound for Mayaguana, the country’s easternmost island — returned to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern.

The plane landed safely and passengers disembarked. Then it caught fire.

No injuries were reported in that incident.

Regulators Move

The pattern was enough to prompt immediate action from aviation authorities.

The Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation announced on Facebook that the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas had temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate as a precautionary safety measure while the AAIA conducts its investigation.

That suspension effectively grounds the carrier pending findings.

The Investigation Continues

As of Monday, July 13, the cause of the Andros crash remained under investigation.

Investigators have not indicated whether mechanical failure, weather, pilot error, or some combination is being examined as the likely factor.

Anyone with information about the crash has been asked to contact the AAIA at 242-376-8334 or by email at baaid@bahamas.gov.bs.

The Weight of the Timing

There is a particular cruelty in the date. Independence Day is when the Bahamas celebrates itself — and music, more than almost anything else, is how that celebration happens.

Instead, the country spent it losing ten people, including some of the very performers who would have been playing.