The Bahamas is mourning after a plane crash claimed 10 lives, including five members of a beloved local music group whose songs had become a fixture of the islands’ cultural celebrations. Da Pond Band, known for performing at community festivals throughout the archipelago, lost the core of its lineup in a disaster that has left the surviving members reeling and the surrounding community searching for words. Giovanni McKenzie, Mateo Winder, Rashad Storr, Tonique Gilot and Travis Johnson were identified as the dead band members.
The plane, a Cessna 402 operated by Flamingo Air, went down in dense brush in North Andros on July 10, 2026 — Bahamas Independence Day — shortly after leaving Nassau on what should have been a roughly 20-minute flight to San Andros. All 10 people aboard were killed; Prime Minister Philip Davis initially said one person had survived but later confirmed that the victim died of their injuries. Among the dead was popular disc jockey Melvin Henfield, known as DJ Fresh. The Bahamas’ Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority said the plane “encountered difficulties and crashed into bushes prior to landing” and is investigating the cause. The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s air operator certificate, citing not only the crash but a second incident the same day, in which a Beech 99 bound for Mayaguana returned to Nassau with mechanical trouble and caught fire on arrival.
Musicians Headed to Annual Celebration
The musicians had been headed toward the All Andros and Berry Islands Regatta, an annual event that celebrates Bahamian culture and heritage through music, sloop/boat racing and food. The loss has cut deeply across a nation where regatta season draws families from island to island and where live bands are woven into the fabric of the festivities.
Events like the All-Andros and the Berry Island Regatta serve as gathering points for Bahamian communities, blending sailing traditions with celebrations of heritage and identity. Music sits at the center of those festivities, and Da Pond Band had become part of that tradition — the sort of act whose presence signaled that the party had begun.
Five Band Members Among the Dead
One of the group’s singers, Lamar Polhamus, said the band had lost “the core, the heart, and the life of the band.” He asked for patience as the surviving members try to absorb what has happened. He described the road ahead as long and difficult and requested space, time, support and prayers from those who had followed the band’s music over the years.
A Loss That Touches an Entire Nation
Shaniese Miller, Da Pond’s lead singer, was not on the flight; she had last seen her bandmates at a weekly performance in Nassau, and said the group had always stuck together like a unit. Vocalist Shenia Roberts had already reached Andros and was waiting for the rest of the band to land.
In a nation as tightly knit as the Bahamas, where islands are small and reputations travel quickly, a loss of this size touches nearly everyone in some way. The regatta the band was set to play was meant to be a moment of joy and connection. Instead, it has become bound up with mourning, a reminder of how swiftly celebration can turn to grief.
Four other people aboard, including the pilot, were not publicly identified.
For now, the emphasis remains on the people lost: McKenzie, Winder, Storr, Gilot and Johnson, five musicians who spent their careers bringing Bahamian audiences together.