Andrew Ong 1 Report post Posted August 11, 2007 From BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6939745.stm Plane crashes off Pacific island A small passenger plane has crashed into the Pacific Ocean near the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, apparently killing all 20 people on board. The twin-engine Twin Otter DHC6 turboprop crashed into the sea just after take-off from the island of Moorea, 17km (10 miles) from Tahiti. The aircraft, which was carrying 19 passengers and one pilot, belonged to Air Moorea, a local Polynesian airline. An inquiry is under way but the cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Two Australian tourists, two European Union officials and a group of Polynesian environmental and tourism officials were among those on board, according to the High Commission for the territory. Rescue workers, helped by French navy ships and local fishing boats, have recovered 17 bodies including that of the pilot, a local official, Jacques Witkowski, told RTL radio. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on holiday in the US, issued a statement expressing his condolences. "I want to assure the families of the victims, the whole of Polynesia, and the Australian and European authorities, that I share their emotion and hurt," he said. The secretary of state for France's overseas territories, Christian Estrosi, is being sent to the region to show the government's solidarity. Whoa, there were two EU officials on board RIP to all of the 20 people that were killed in the crash Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted August 14, 2007 Tahiti Plane Crash Voice Recorder Located August 13, 2007 Search teams have located the cockpit flight recorder of a passenger aircraft that crashed last week killing at least 14 people, but authorities said they would need specialist deep-water equipment to recover it. The conversation voice recorder on board the Twin Otter could tell investigators why the aircraft with 19 passengers and a pilot came down on Thursday shortly after taking off from the island of Moorea on a short hop to the local capital Papeete. But local authorities in Papeete said none of their vessels was stable enough to provide a platform for the underwater robot being sent from Paris to recover the recorder, discovered at a depth of around 430 metres. France may ask nearby countries to lend it a vessel to conduct the recovery operation, the authorities said in a statement late on Sunday. Fourteen bodies have been recovered but six people remain missing and authorities hold out no hope of any survivors. Senior official Anne Bocquet said teams would continue to search for wreckage and bodies for a further two weeks and had asked local fishermen to report objects found at sea. Two police air crash investigators have been sent to the zone to work with three civilian experts in situ since Saturday. Moorea is one of around 118 islands scattered across an area the size of Europe in the South Pacific that make up France's overseas territory of French Polynesia. (Reuters) Never knew TwinOtters were equipped with CVR's Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rozhan 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2007 I always thought Twin Otters are sturdy and 'safe' aircraft. I suppose this model that crashed is the sea plane version, that could have ditched into the sea should anything go wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azmir I. 1 Report post Posted August 14, 2007 I always thought Twin Otters are sturdy and 'safe' aircraft. I suppose this model that crashed is the sea plane version, that could have ditched into the sea should anything go wrong. There is a thread in pprune regarding the said aircrash. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
