At least 19 die in Miami seaplane crash

MIAMI - A seaplane packed with passengers crashed in flames off Miami Beach and sank into the US city's main shipping channel on today, killing at least 19 people, authorities said.

The twin-engine seaplane crashed just off the southern tip of Miami Beach after taking off for the Bahamian island of Bimini with 18 passengers, including three infants, and two crew, according to Roger Nair, general manager of Chalk's Ocean Airways, which operated the ill-fated aircraft.

Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez told a news conference 19 bodies had been recovered from the crash site.

Witnesses said the plane seemed to explode in the sky before falling into Government Cut, the entry to the Port of Miami, where it came to rest in shallow water next to a jetty.

"There was a huge explosion in the sky, a big ball of smoke," one witness, Frank Amadeo, told Miami's Channel 7 television. "It just sort of spiralled downward," he added.

Surfers who saw the plane fly overhead as they waited for waves off Miami Beach's Art Deco hotel and restaurant district said the aircraft made a screeching sound as it came down, one wing on fire.

"The left wing was in flames, a big flame and then we hear boom and the whole plane was on fire. It went straight into the water," said Vincent DiLella, a 19-year-old surfer.

"It looked like it (the fire) was going along the left wing and then suddenly it took over the whole plane," he said.

- REUTERS