OAN Staff James Meyers
8:32 AM – Tuesday, March 18, 2025
At least 12 people have been killed in a plane crash off the coast of a Caribbean island, including a popular Honduran musician who went on to become a politician.
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Aurelio Martinez, who was a popular member of the Honduran Garifuna scene in the 1990s was among 12 killed after the aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the island of Roatan, which was destined for the port of La Ceiba on the mainland, on Monday night.
According to a statement from police, the plane suffered an “apparent mechanical failure” and came down just half a mile from the island’s coast.
It “made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water,” civil aviation official Carlos Padilla said.
“The plane almost fell on us. I was fishing,” a fisherman, whose name was not given, told HCH television.
Aerolinea Lanhsa Flight 018 had 15 passengers, as well as two pilots and a flight attendant on board, according to authorities.
The fire department said that 12 people were killed in the crash and five others were rescued.
Meanwhile, one person is still missing from the crash, police said.
Videos circulating across social media showed rescue workers carrying one survivor on a stretcher onto the shore.
Martinez, the popular musician, founded the Lita Ariran ensemble, one of the first Garifuna groups to be featured on an internationally distributed album.
“Martinez’s virtuosic musicianship and passionate performances made him a mainstay of the La Cieba music scene, where he was best loved for his take on punta rock, the high-energy, Garifuna roots-infused pop genre that took Central America by storm in the 1990s,” according to the Kennedy Center.
Martinez also served as a congressman in Honduras from 2006 to 2010, becoming the first Black member of Congress.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya said she had “immediately activated” rescuers as well as the Red Cross.
“May God protect people’s lives,” she said.
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