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How tragic. We were just on that flight last year, except at that time we were travelling the other way, from Tahiti to Moorea. At the time, the 6 of us were pretty nervous as it's a tiny little plane with only about 20 people on board and the whole flight was really turbulent.
I'm thinking more people will be taking the ferry now.
Two Australians die in plane crash | NEWS.com.au
TWO Australians were among the 20 people killed in a plane crash in the pacific island of French Polynesia today.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said two Australians were listed as being aboard the aircraft.
The passengers were from Victoria but no other details were known at this stage, a spokeswoman said.
Two Americans and two European Union officials were also aboard, along with a number of local officials, authorities in French Polynesia said.
Witnesses said they saw the Air Moorea turboprop aircraft ploughing into the waves soon after taking off from Moorea's Tamae airport about 12.15pm local time (8.15am AEST) for the 17km flight to the nearby South Pacific island of Tahiti.
"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."
So far 16 bodies had been recovered from the plane and divers were searching for the rest, according to officials in Papeete, capital of the French overseas territory.
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."
Two helicopters were being used to look for the remaining passengers, said Jacques Witkowski, the secretary general of French Polynesia's High Council.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but an investigation has been launched.
The bodies of the victims have been moved to a makeshift morgue in a nearby village where identification was under way.
The crash was the first for an Air Moorea aircraft, according to 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".
A team of psychologists has been mobilised to help families of the victims, as well as a telephone hotline for information, according to the government's website.
France's top official for overseas territories, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, voiced her "sincere condolences to all the families touched by this tragedy".
She paid tribute to the rescuers and vowed that families and investigators would receive all the support they need.
Alliot-Marie ordered Christian Estrosi, the junior minister responsible for French overseas territories, to travel to the islands as soon as possible.
I'm thinking more people will be taking the ferry now.
Two Australians die in plane crash | NEWS.com.au
TWO Australians were among the 20 people killed in a plane crash in the pacific island of French Polynesia today.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said two Australians were listed as being aboard the aircraft.
The passengers were from Victoria but no other details were known at this stage, a spokeswoman said.
Two Americans and two European Union officials were also aboard, along with a number of local officials, authorities in French Polynesia said.
Witnesses said they saw the Air Moorea turboprop aircraft ploughing into the waves soon after taking off from Moorea's Tamae airport about 12.15pm local time (8.15am AEST) for the 17km flight to the nearby South Pacific island of Tahiti.
"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."
So far 16 bodies had been recovered from the plane and divers were searching for the rest, according to officials in Papeete, capital of the French overseas territory.
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."
Two helicopters were being used to look for the remaining passengers, said Jacques Witkowski, the secretary general of French Polynesia's High Council.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but an investigation has been launched.
The bodies of the victims have been moved to a makeshift morgue in a nearby village where identification was under way.
The crash was the first for an Air Moorea aircraft, according to 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".
A team of psychologists has been mobilised to help families of the victims, as well as a telephone hotline for information, according to the government's website.
France's top official for overseas territories, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, voiced her "sincere condolences to all the families touched by this tragedy".
She paid tribute to the rescuers and vowed that families and investigators would receive all the support they need.
Alliot-Marie ordered Christian Estrosi, the junior minister responsible for French overseas territories, to travel to the islands as soon as possible.
