Plane crash in Miami Beach

[Steff]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179247,00.html

 

for the families.

 

Miami Beach Plane Crash Wreckage to Be Examined

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Investigators hoped to haul up the fuselage of a sunken seaplane to find why it broke apart and plunged into the ocean just off Miami Beach with 20 people on board, including three infants.

 

Within minutes of the crash Monday, rescue workers, boaters and surfers converged on the oil-slicked crash scene. Nineteen bodies were recovered and divers suspended efforts to find the final body late Monday.

 

"The possibility of anyone surviving is not very likely, but we can't confirm 20 people have died until we locate that 20th person," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Doss.

 

Two crew and 18 passengers were on the flight to Bimini in the Bahamas. Many of the victims were returning home to the 7-mile long island after Christmas shopping jaunts.

 

Maurice D'Giovianni, 42, one of the throngs of surfers at the beach, said he heard a distinct "Boom!" before a wing fell off and the plane, black plumes of flame tailing it, tumbled into the water.

 

"It exploded in the air, and one of the wings flew out of there," D'Giovianni said. "The other part of the plane was on fire and it just went straight down, like a mosquito."

 

The Chalk's Ocean Airways plane — a twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard built in 1947 — was operating under visual flight rules, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

 

Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr also saw the crash from an island in a channel known as Government Cut that cruise ships and freighters take past South Beach into the Port of Miami.

 

"Everything looked normal, I saw the aircraft take off like it does every other time. I didn't think anything of it when I saw the black smoke from the pier, until I then heard the Coast Guard alarms go off," he said.

 

Relatives of some of the victims went to Miami Beach, weeping about their losses. Garred Gadaon, 34 said his sister-in-law Jackey Lavarity, 38, and her 13-year-old daughter, were on the plane.

 

"The Christmas holiday is a joyful holiday. We had a tragic death today with many of our family members and our friends. It doesn't seem real," said Gadaon.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board sent teams to investigate. "We'll be looking at everything in this investigation. Nothing is off the table," said Mark Rosenker, acting NTSB chairman.

 

The initial investigation will focus on locating the plane's cockpit voice recorder and on examining maintenance logs and operations records, Rosenker said.

 

Much of the wreckage, including the main fuselage, will likely be raised from the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday. Rosenker urged witnesses who made amateur video or still photographs of the crash to come forward.

 

The skies were cloudy at the time of the crash, but there was no rain or lightning in the area. FBI officials said there was no immediate indication of terrorism or criminal intent.

 

Chalk's is too small to fall under the federal guidelines that require passengers and their luggage be inspected by Transportation Security Administration screeners, said Dale Karlen, federal security director at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

 

Coast Guard Capt. James Maes said the main part of the plane's fuselage was submerged in about 35 feet of water that is subject to strong tidal currents because of the narrow ship channel.

 

Ship traffic in and out of the port will be suspended indefinitely, Maes added. That includes three large cruise ships that had been scheduled to depart Monday afternoon.

 

The plane involved in Monday's crash — registered to Seaplane Adventures LLC in Greenwich, Conn. — previously had few major reported incidents and no passengers or crew were injured in any of them, according to the FAA.

 

On Sept. 21, 2002, the plane skidded on a runway in Fort Lauderdale after its landing gear failed as the plane touched down. In Fort Lauderdale on April 17, 1984, the landing gear failed because of a stress failure. On Feb. 10, 1984, in West Palm Beach, the elevator trim tab that controls pitch failed, causing "extreme shaking and vibration."

 

The company's aircraft had engines that were converted from older piston-driven models to Pratt & Whitney turboprops, upgrades in avionics and improvements to the plane's interior, the company said.

 

Chalk's general manager Roger Nair said it was the airline's first accident with a passenger fatality. The NTSB database indicates no fatal accidents involving passengers for Chalk's since 1982, when the database began, although two pilots died after their seaplane crashed near Key West on March 18, 1994.

 

Chalk's Ocean Airways was founded in 1919 and its aircraft have been featured in TV shows like "Miami Vice." Its floating planes take off in view of the port and waterfront multimillion-dollar homes.

 

Founded by Arthur "Pappy" Chalk, the small airline thrived during Prohibition, taking bootleggers, their customers and Customs agents to Bimini.

 

Chalk's was bought by Florida businessman Jim Confalone in mid-July 1999, was rechristened as Chalk's Ocean Airways and was in the midst of an "extensive refurbishment" of its airline fleet, according to the company's web site.

[SoCalSouthSider59]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179247,00.html

 

for the families.

 

 

The first Chalk's plane i ever saw, was on Miami Vice back in the '80's.........

[heartslasher]

This is why i steer clear of ten o'clock news... it is so unreal... :headshake