AN unresponsive private plane has crashed in the sea off Jamaica, officials on the island have said.
The Jamaican Defence Force said the plane went down about 14 miles (22km) north-east of Port Antonio.
The US had earlier scrambled two F-15 fighter jets when the plane failed to respond to air traffic control.
The two people known to be on board have been named as Larry Glazer, a property developer from Rochester, New York, and his wife Jane.
The couple were both licensed pilots.
Major Basil Jarrett of the Jamaican Defence Force told reporters that an oil slick had been spotted off the coast but there was no sign yet of any wreckage.
He said search and rescue teams were scouring the waters for possible survivors.
The plane, a Socata TBM-700 built in 2014, took off from Rochester at 08:26 (12:26 GMT) en route to Naples, Florida.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) was alerted to the unresponsive plane about an hour into its flight and sent two fighter jets to monitor it.
A spokesman said it was not possible for the fighter pilots to see inside the plane as the windows were frosted or fogged over.
A tweet from Norad suggested the pilot or pilots could have been be unresponsive due to “possible hypoxia” – oxygen deprivation.
The plane had been flying at an altitude of 25,000ft (7,600m) southbound over the Caribbean Sea, approaching the north east point of Jamaica, when it went off radar.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo paid tribute to the couple.
“The Glazers were innovative and generous people who were committed to revitalising downtown Rochester and making the city they loved a better place for all,” he said.
The couple’s three children said in a statement they were “devastated”.
Earlier, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it has co-operated with Cuba air traffic control in monitoring the plane, despite the countries not having full diplomatic relations for more than half a century. BBC
