Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Air Moorea turboprop bound for mainland crashes

12:10PM Friday August 10, 2007

At least seven people are feared dead after a plane crash in Tahiti.

The Twin Otter turboprop Air Moorea aircraft bound for mainland Tahiti crashed into a lagoon on take-off from the island of Moorea.

The secretary to Air Moorea's CEO, Hinanui Sallom confirmed there had been a plane accident at about 10am New Zealand time.

Ms Sollom said 20 people including the pilot were on board and that 13 people had been found alive.
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nzherald.co.nz (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456972)

Update. Very, sad.

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A spokeswoman for Air Moorea said all 20 people aboard the aircraft were feared killed.
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Television pictures showed police boats at the scene of the accident with divers in the water and emergency workers at temporary posts on the shore.

The plane, a Dehavilland Twin Otter aircraft, veered to the right after take-off for the short flight to the main island of Tahiti and crashed into the ocean at around 12:15 p.m. local time (2215 GMT) on Thursday.
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cnn.com (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/10/polynesia.crash.reut/index.html)

Thanks for the note, although when I read mainland I was thinking something like SFO or LAX, not PPT.

I took this flight from MOZ-PPT on our honeymoon. My three Twin Otter flights, this one included, and the other two in the Maldives, have been the most scenic commercial flights that I have ever taken. What a shame. I hope the passengers can rest in peace.