The pilot and co-pilot of a private aircraft were killed when it crashed on the runway at La Romana International Airport in the Dominican Republic, the the Caribbean nation’s national aviation authority said. Authorities reported that no passengers were on board. According to a statement from the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, the aircraft declared an emergency while about 16 nautical miles southwest of La Romana and went down while attempting to return to the airport, AFP reported. Videos shared on social media showed a large plume of smoke rising from the airport, with fire trucks spraying water to extinguish the blaze. According to the aviation authority, an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the crash involving the plane, a Gulfstream G200 jet. La Romana International Airport serves the nearby tourist destination of La Romana, in a country where tourism is a major pillar of the economy, supporting the Dominican Republic’s population of roughly 11.6 million people. This incident comes after a previous fatal crash in 2021, when nine people were killed after a private plane departed from Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo.
