Plane crashes off French Pacific island By TIPHAINE ISSELE, Associated Press Writer

Plane crashes off French Pacific island By TIPHAINE ISSELE, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 50 minutes ago



PAPEETE, Tahiti - A small airplane crashed into the sea after taking off from the French Polynesian resort island of Moorea, killing at least 14 people, officials said Friday.

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The Tahiti-bound Twin Otter DHC6 turboprop, carrying 19 passengers and a pilot, crashed shortly after takeoff Thursday, Air Moorea said in a statement. The cause of the crash was unclear.

Moorea is 10 miles from Tahiti, a South Pacific tourist mecca half way between Sydney and Los Angeles. The plane carried out regular seven-minute flights between the islands for Air Moorea.

France's high commission on Tahiti said 14 bodies had been recovered. The local civil aviation authority said no survivors had been found so far. Witnesses said local fishermen joined in the rescue effort.

French navy ships had recovered some bodies about a mile from Moorea airport and outside the island's lagoon, and were searching for survivors, although it was feared there were none, a spokeswoman for the civil aviation authority said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

Most of the tourists on board had French nationality, though three were foreigners, said Dominique Bayon, spokeswoman for the high commission, which represents the French state in French Polynesia.

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Associated Press Writer Ray Lilly in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS UPDATES throughout with three foreigners on board; corrects in headline that 14 bodies have been recovered.)