Twin Otter goes down in Tahiti

The Herald Sun

Two Australians died when a passenger plane plunged into the sea near the Pacific island of Tahiti today, killing all 20 on board.

Married couple Rodney and Wendy Page, from Miners Rest near Ballarat, were among 19 passengers and a pilot on board the light aircraft for the 17km flight from Moorea Island to Tahiti, said officials in French Polynesia.

Witnesses said they saw the Air Moorea Twin Otter turboprop aircraft plough into the waves soon after take-off from Moorea’s Temae airport at about noon local time (0800 AEST).

“The plane seemed to have difficulty gaining altitude,” an airport employee who saw the crash said.

“Then it plunged and you could hear the noise of the explosion.”

“We heard a big boom,” an unidentified fisherman told French television.

“We didn’t try to understand, we were just there, we took maybe 30 seconds to get there. We just saw a whole lot of debris on the surface and bodies as well.”

Australian foreign affairs parliamentary secretary Greg Hunt said: “The best information we have is that the plane has crashed about 500 metres from the end of the runway in about 500 metres of water.”

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed two Australians from country Victoria were aboard the flight and there were no survivors.

Two European Union officials were also believed to be aboard the plane, along with a number of local French Polynesian officials, said authorities in the French overseas territory.

Police said 14 bodies had been recovered, including that of the pilot, but no survivors had been found.

The search for the remaining passengers was continuing tonight, but it was believed they may be trapped inside the wreckage.

Divers were expected to inspect the wreckage tomorrow, he said.

The first rescue workers on the scene found nothing but debris and floating bodies.

“The bodies were coming up slowly, one after the other,” said one of the rescuers, adding “it seems that the cabin disintegrated upon impact as all the passengers are still buckled in”.

The bodies of the victims were moved to a makeshift morgue in a nearby village where identification was underway.

Officials have been in touch with the families and Australia’s consul in Noumea was travelling to Tahiti, the DFAT spokesman said.

Australian authorities have offered to assist next of kin if they want to travel to Papeete to bring their loved ones home.

The plane was making a short regular flight from Moorea, which is popular with tourists.

The crash was the first for an Air Moorea aircraft, according to local officials. The plane, which the company had operated for one year, was last inspected on July 18.

French Polynesia’s president Gaston Tong Sang immediately flew to the scene of the crash, where he spoke of the “cruel tragedy for Polynesia”.