A local passenger plane making a routine seven-minute island hop to Tahiti smashed into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, with all 20 people on board feared dead, officials said. Two Australians and two EU officials were among those lost when the doomed turboprop ploughed into the waves just moments after taking off from the paradise island of Moorea on its way to next-door Tahiti.
Officials said 16 bodies had been recovered, with four people still missing. One rescuer said some bodies were still buckled into the seats of the ill-fated Air Moorea plane. The rescue effort was due to resume on Saturday morning.
"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," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on holiday in the United States. The French civil aviation authority's investigation bureau said that it was sending a small team to French Polynesia to lead the inquiry.
In Australia, a foreign affairs department spokesman confirmed two of its nationals were on board, adding that there were no survivors. Earlier reports had indicated two Americans were on the passenger list. "The plane seemed to have difficulty gaining altitude," said an airport employee who witnessed the crash. "Then it plunged, and you could hear the noise of the explosion."
Initial reports from rescue workers said the remains of the dead were found floating up to the surface of the sea, still strapped into their seats. The plane was carrying 19 passengers, including five foreigners, and a the pilot.
The bodies of the victims so far recovered had been moved to a makeshift morgue where identification was under way, local officials said. The crash was the first for Air Moorea, according to officials. The plane, which the company had operated for one year, was last inspected on July 18.
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