2 U.S. pilots killed in Dominican Republic plane crash en route to pick up former MLB star Yadier Molina

A pilot and co-pilot from the United States have died in a fiery plane crash as they attempted an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

The incident occurred Sunday near the southern coastal town of La Romana, according to a statement by the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, which identified the pilot and co-pilot as U.S. citizens. It wasn’t immediately known what caused the crash. No passengers were aboard.

MLB All-Star former catcher Yadier Molina said on social media that the plane was bound for Texas to pick him up, along with family and friends. Molina and his group were headed to his native Puerto Rico.

“My condolences to the pilots and their families,” he wrote in a post on Instagram, accompanied by a video of a plane crash-landing at the airport and bursting into flames.

Officials said the plane had departed from Puerto Rico and landed in the Dominican Republic to refuel before heading to Texas.

The pilot and co-pilot reported an emergency shortly after taking off from the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

Molina is considered one of the best defensive catchers in MLB history. He won two World Series titles with the Cardinals over his 2004-2022 career.

The airport serves the tourist city of La Romana.

Tourism is key to the economy of the Dominican Republic, a country of 11.6 million people located in the Caribbean.

In 2021, nine people died in a private plane crash after departing from Las Americas International Airport in the capital, Santo Domingo.