Mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a small plane that departed the Dominican Republic with a pilot and 11 passengers on board remain. The pilot loaded the passengers onto a twin-engine Britten-Norman BN-2A MK III Trislander in Santiago, Dominican Republic on Dec. 15 and filed a flight plan for the Bahamas, but the aircraft never arrived. The pilot issued a mayday about 35 minutes after takeoff and then disappeared from the radar. He was flying in low visibility over rough seas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Six fixed-wing aircraft, two helicopters, and a USCG ship searched the seas near the Turks and Caicos Islands for the aircraft, but no sign was found of the Trislander and the search and rescue mission was called off on Dec. 17 Dominican authorities said the pilot was not licensed to fly the aircraft, and press reports quote local officials saying they think the pilot was trying to fly illegal immigrants to the United States. 2008 will end with no sign of aircraft wreckage or the twelve people on board.