They were my friends, my confidants. And I was waiting on them.
On a Friday afternoon in the Bahamas, a small plane bound for an Independence Day celebration fell into the woods near San Andros, taking ten lives with it — among them five members of Da Pond Band, a beloved Caribbean ensemble, and the popular DJ Fresh. They were traveling to perform, as musicians do, carrying joy toward an island that would instead receive grief. The crash has opened questions not only about what failed in the air, but about what may have gone wrong long before the plane ever left the ground.
- A twenty-minute charter flight from Nassau became a fatal journey when the Flamingo Air plane crashed eighteen minutes after a two-hour delay on the tarmac, killing all ten aboard.
- Survivors report the pilot held the aircraft to solicit additional paying passengers — a practice that contradicted the charter agreement and unsettled those who knew the flight's purpose.
- The same airline suffered a separate fire emergency on a different aircraft the very same day, compounding alarm and prompting Flamingo Air to suspend all operations.
- A sixteen-year-old boy, added to the manifest at the last minute after missing a ferry, was among the dead — his mother piecing together his fate through silence and passing hours.
- Bahamian investigators are now examining the crash as the music community mourns the loss of musicians described as the heartbeat of a nation's cultural life.
On a Friday afternoon, a small Flamingo Air plane carrying ten people crashed into a wooded area near San Andros in the Bahamas, killing everyone on board. Among the dead were five members of Da Pond Band — Giovanni McKenzie, Mateo Winder, Rashad Storr, Tonique Gilot, and Travis Johnson — along with Melvin Henfield, known as DJ Fresh. They had been flying to perform at an Independence Day celebration on Andros Island, a journey that should have lasted less than twenty minutes from Nassau.
Shenia Roberts, the band's vocalist, had flown the same route on the same aircraft that morning and was already on Andros waiting for her bandmates when she learned they would not arrive. She recalled the plane as visibly old, though her earlier flight had been uneventful. Text messages she exchanged with bandleader Giovanni McKenzie painted a troubling picture of what unfolded on the tarmac: the pilot held the plane for roughly two hours, seeking additional passengers to fill empty seats. Roberts understood the booking to be an exclusive charter. 'That should have not been the situation,' she said.
Among those added to the flight was Nicholas Oliver Jr., a sixteen-year-old who had missed an earlier ferry with his father. His mother, Anasthasia Rolle, came to understand her son's fate only as the hours passed without word. The plane departed around 12:30 p.m. and crashed eighteen minutes later. Earlier that same day, a separate Flamingo Air aircraft had caught fire after landing in Nassau — an incident without injuries, but one that deepened the shadow over the airline, which subsequently suspended all operations.
The loss struck the Bahamian music world with particular force. Singer Anishka Lewis had rehearsed with the band until 1 a.m. that same morning, parting with words of gratitude she never imagined would be final. Surviving member Shaniese Miller recalled the band's weekly Nassau performance the night before — the excitement her colleagues expressed about the Andros show — and now finds herself unable to reconcile their absence. 'They're my family,' she said. 'I never expected that to happen.' Investigators continue to examine what caused the crash, and whether the delay on the tarmac and the condition of the aircraft played any part in the disaster.
On Friday afternoon, a small plane carrying ten people descended into a wooded area near San Andros in the Bahamas, killing everyone on board. Among the dead were five members of Da Pond Band, the country's beloved Caribbean music ensemble, and Melvin Henfield, known professionally as DJ Fresh. They had been en route to perform at an Independence Day celebration on Andros Island—a flight that should have taken less than twenty minutes from Nassau.
Shenia Roberts, the band's vocalist, had arrived on the island hours earlier on the same aircraft, piloted by the same crew. She was waiting for her bandmates when she learned they would not be coming. "They were the people that I talked to in the morning, in the night," Roberts told CBS News. "They were my friends, my confidants. And I was waiting on them." She remembered the flight she had taken that morning with some unease. "You could tell it was an old plane," she said. "But we didn't have any issues."
The five band members who died were Giovanni McKenzie, Mateo Winder, Rashad Storr, Tonique Gilot, and Travis Johnson. Three other passengers—not performers—were also on the flight, their names not yet released by authorities. Among them was Nicholas Oliver Jr., a sixteen-year-old boy whose mother, Anasthasia Rolle, believes he was added to the manifest at the last minute. He had missed an earlier ferry with his father and the father had rushed to the airport to see if he could book him on a plane instead. "The question was, where is Nicholas? Did he disappear?" Rolle said. "As the time passed, I had to come to realization that my son was definitely on that plane."
What emerges from the accounts of survivors is a picture of operational irregularity that troubles those who were close to the flight. Roberts was texting with McKenzie, one of the band's leaders, as they waited on the tarmac. At 12:01 p.m., McKenzie wrote that the pilot was "waiting round for more people to full up the plane." The aircraft sat idle for approximately two hours, Roberts said, as the crew attempted to fill empty seats. This contradicted what she understood to be the arrangement: the flight was supposed to be a charter, booked exclusively for the performers heading to the festival. "That should have not been the situation, because it was a chartered plane," Roberts said. A source familiar with Bahamian aviation practices told CBS News that it is not uncommon for operators to delay departure and solicit additional passengers on a per-seat basis rather than honoring a full charter agreement, particularly when financial incentives align that way.
The plane departed around 12:30 p.m. and crashed eighteen minutes later. The Bahamian Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority is now examining what caused the disaster. The timing of the crash has cast a shadow over Flamingo Air's operations: earlier that same day, a separate aircraft operated by the airline caught fire after landing in Nassau, though no one was injured in that incident. The airline suspended all flights following the two emergencies.
The loss has reverberated through the Bahamian music community with particular force. Anishka Lewis, a popular singer who often performed alongside Da Pond Band, had been in rehearsals with them until 1 a.m. on Friday. "I told them, I say, listen, I love and appreciate y'all, man," Lewis said. "Thank y'all for putting in the time and effort and energy into it, and I can't wait to see y'all on Saturday." She did not see them on Saturday. "They meant so much to so many people, this country is wrecked," she told CBS News.
Shaniese Miller, another surviving band member, had been with the group just the night before at their weekly performance in Nassau. "It's the hottest spot, every Bahamian is there," she said of the venue. "International people fly over just to come to see Da Pond. We were having so much fun, and after the second set, they were just saying how they were so excited to go to Andros." Now she struggles to process their absence. "I'm still shocked that they're gone. I can't believe it," Miller said. "They're my family and I never expected that to happen."
When CBS News contacted Flamingo Air's owner for comment, he declined to speak. The investigation into what caused the crash continues, and with it, questions about how a chartered flight came to be delayed for hours while the airline sought additional paying passengers, and whether the condition or operation of the aircraft played any role in the disaster.
Notable Quotes
You could tell it was an old plane. But we didn't have any issues.— Shenia Roberts, Da Pond Band vocalist, describing the aircraft she had flown on that morning
They meant so much to so many people, this country is wrecked.— Anishka Lewis, Bahamian singer who performed with Da Pond Band
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that the plane was supposed to be a charter?
Because a charter means you've paid for the whole aircraft. The performers thought they had exclusive use. Instead, the pilot was hunting for extra passengers to fill seats, which delayed departure by two hours. That's a fundamental breach of what they paid for.
And the delay itself—could that have contributed to the crash?
We don't know yet. But the delay meant they were taking off later in the day, in different conditions, with a different passenger load than planned. Every variable changes.
The vocalist said the plane was old. Did she think it was unsafe?
She didn't say it was unsafe. She said you could tell it was old. She flew on it that morning without incident. But when you're waiting for friends who never arrive, you start noticing details you might have overlooked before.
What strikes you most about the mother's story?
That her son almost didn't get on the plane. He missed the ferry, so his father took him to the airport as a last resort. A few minutes different and he's not on that flight. That's the randomness of it—the way small decisions compound into tragedy.
The band was beloved. What did they mean to people?
They were the center of the music scene. People flew in from other countries just to see them perform. They had a weekly show that was the place to be. They weren't distant celebrities—they were woven into the fabric of how people gathered and celebrated.
What happens to Flamingo Air now?
They've suspended operations. There's an investigation. But the real question is whether this was a mechanical failure, a pilot error, a maintenance issue, or something about how they were operating that day. Until we know, everything is suspended.