Plane Missing After Leaving FL Airport For The Bahamas: Reports

SEBASTIAN, FL — A Louisville man has been missing since Sunday, when his single-engine plane failed to arrive at its destination in the Bahamas, according to reports in Pleasanton Weekly, WPTV, and KPLC. U.S. and Bahamas officials have suspended their search as of Wednesday, according to reports.

Christopher Moore, 59, took off from Sebastian Municipal Airport, located near the Atlantic coast about halfway between Orlando and West Palm Beach. Moore, who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, would fly his plane to the Bahamas often.

He would normally stay with a friend who lived in a Palm Beach County town closer to the Bahamas, but diverted his flight due to Hurricane Debby, and flew out of Sebastian instead, according to WPTV.

Moore left at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday. That afternoon, Moore’s friend Cameron Hitchcock received two calls that he hadn’t shown up on time, and messages to him were not being delivered.

The Federal Aviation Administration put out a statement that a single-engine BRM Aero Bristell was reported overdue after departing from Florida on Sunday, according to Pleasanton Weekly. The plane’s last known location was about 50 miles northwest of Freeport, Bahamas, according to the FAA. Hitchcock and his friends tracked the flight through Flight Aware, which showed his flight path ended in the water near Grand Bahama, according to KPLC.

A Coast Guard official told WPTV “the search is suspended pending the development of further information.” The Royal Bahamian Defense Force is also suspending the search, though a private search and rescue company continues to look.

“We’re still hopeful he’s alive,” Hitchcock told KPLC.

Moore grew up in the Bay Area, and sold Quadrant Solutions, a magnet company. He bought four planes, and flew them often.

“[Flying] was more than just a hobby, it was a passion,” Hitchcock told WPTV.

“He was a good person, very self-made,” McMillan told The Weekly.