Body of pilot found following plane crash

NASSAU (CMC):

Police say they have found the body of a person whom they believe is the American pilot of a two-seater single engine aircraft that took off from Florida on August 4 but failed to reach his intended destination of Marsh Harbour in Abaco.

They said that the wrecked plane was found on Thursday in a marshy area about five miles away from the Leonard Thompson International Airport in Abaco.

Police had been searching for the Kentucky native pilot, Christopher Moore, a retired engineer, since Sunday after the plane went missing.

The authorities said that the plane’s last known location was north of Grand Bahama shortly before 11 a.m. (local time) on Sunday and that the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the US Coast Guard had been involved in a joint search effort to locate the missing aircraft.

Police said they received reports on Thursday of a potential sighting of a wrecked plane about five miles from the airport in Marsh Harbour.

Police said officers and community volunteers went to the location and found the wreckage along with the body of a Caucasian man, who is believed to be the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft.

They said officials from the Civil Aviation Authority and the United States National Transport Safety Authority will conduct further investigations into the circumstances surrounding this crash.

Moore, 59, was said to be an avid pilot who frequently made trips in his small plane to The Bahamas.

His wife, Stacye Love, told reporters that Moore died on impact.

“We are deeply grateful for having him found,” Love told American news station WLKY, remebering him as a man who was “wickedly smart” and “quirky”.

“I am forever blessed to have been loved by him. Please keep our family in your prayers,” Love said.