Search for plane off Jamaica called off

After scouring an expanse of white-capped waters off Jamaica for three days, rescuers have called off a search for a small plane that crashed after a ghostly journey down the US east coast and the northern Caribbean.

The head of Jamaica's civil aviation authority, Leroy Lindsay, said his agency is talking with the US National Transportation Safety Board and French authorities on "where, how and when to start the investigation into what caused" the crash of the US-registered, French-made plane.

The single-engine aircraft flew 2,700 kilometres on Friday before running out of fuel and slamming into deep waters some 22 kilometres off Port Antonio on Jamaica's northeast coast.

Aboard, and apparently incapacitated, were a prominent New York state couple, Laurence and Jane Glazer.

NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said on Monday the agency will lead an investigation into the incident once the wreckage of the plane is recovered.

But it was unclear who might recover it.

Both Jamaican military officials and the US Coast Guard announced on Sunday they were calling off searches, though the Jamaica Defence Force said it will monitor coastlines for any possible debris from the crash. Fishermen and coastal residents have also been urged to report any suspicious debris.

"I doubt there will be any further search," Lindsay said Monday, indicating the crash investigation will likely focus on what can be learned from the US side, since that's the airspace where the pilot went unresponsive.

Jamaica Coast Guard Commander Antonette Wemyss-Gorman said it was "beyond our capacities locally" to recover wreckage at such depths.

The plane was carrying the Rochester real estate developer and his entrepreneur wife, both experienced pilots. During its eerie journey on Friday, US fighter pilots were launched to shadow the Glazers' unresponsive aircraft and they reported seeing the pilot slumped over and its windows frosting over.