NASSAU, BAHAMAS – For days they held onto hope, praying that their loved one would be found alive, but that hope has now given way to heartbreak.
Pilot Clayton Patterson Smith was flying a Piper PA-32 registered C6-PAT, from Exuma to Nassau Sunday afternoon.
The aircraft departed Exuma but never reached its Lynden Pindling International Airport destination, disappearing south of the capital after losing contact with air traffic control.
An urgent search followed involving the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and members of the Exuma community.
However, it was his own family who would help locate the wreckage.
His son, Clayron Smith, recalls the moment he first spotted his father’s plane.
Clayron Smith – Son, Captain Clayton Patterson Smith
“It look like a big coral reef like a bunch of fish there, as I get closer I could see the plane, I could see my dad, had his name on the plane, so I could see the big name.”
He says they began identifying pieces of the aircraft, pinning coordinates and mapping out its location – a wing and a mangled seat, until his uncle alerted them that they had found the wreckage.
Smith says the condition of the plane left him with certainty that his father had not survived.
Clayron Smith – Son, Captain Clayton Paterson Smith
“I was a little hesitant about diving…because I didn’t want [to] dive down and see something I ain’t supposed to see.”
Clayron Smith – Son, Captain Clayton Paterson Smith
“We found his shirt under the wreck and I guess at that time I was like alright my job here is done I kinda get what I was looking for I guess.”
While the discovery has given the family some closure, Smith says the loss has yet to fully sink in.
He describes his father as his teacher and mentor, someone who taught him everything from carpentry to boating and even planes.
Clayron Smith – Son, Captain Clayton Paterson Smith
“So much stuff running through my head, I guess it ain’t really set in with sense yet.”
Meanwhile, questions remain about the search effort. Minister of National Security Myles Laroda defended the Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s role outside the House of Assembly this morning.
However, while Smith is commending the leadership of the agencies that sent resources, he claims those that came did very little to help.
Clayron Smith – Son, Captain Clayton Paterson Smith
“The men on the ground, I do think they could help a little bit more, they were there, they were present, but it was really us that was leading the search, I wouldn’t even say leading, it was just us that was doing it.”
