Plane with 20 aboard crashes off Miami Beach

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A propeller-driven seaplane carrying 20 people crashed just off Miami Beach within sight of the city’s high-rises Monday, killing at least 19 of those aboard, authorities said. Witnesses said the plane exploded in flames as it came down.

Scuba divers and rescuers in speedboats struggled to reach the victims, but as evening fell, they found no sign that anyone survived.

The Chalk’s Ocean Airways plane – a twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard – went down about 2:30 p.m. after taking off from Miami for the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It hit the water within sight of the beach.

The Coast Guard said 19 bodies were found. The World War II-era plane was carrying two crew members and 18 passengers, including three infants, authorities said.

Because of the witness reports of an explosion, the FBI sent agents to assist in the investigation, but there was no immediate indication of terrorism or sabotage, said Judy Orihuela, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Miami field office.

With many schools already closed in advance of the holidays and Christmas week traditionally one of the biggest times of the year for tourism, the beach was relatively busy, and dozens of beachgoers saw the plane go down.

Sandy Rodriguez, 14, said he saw the plane flying low with white smoke trailing from it and flames coming from the bottom. The right wing then fell off as the plane went down, he said.

“It exploded in the air and one of the wings flew out of there. The other part of the plane was on fire and it just went straight down,” said Maurice D’Giovianni, 42, a surfer who was in the water at the time.

Coast Guard Capt. James Maes said the main part of the fuselage was submerged in about 35 feet of water that is subject to strong tidal currents because of the narrow ship channel. Divers were continuing to search after dark for the final victim.

Ship traffic in and out of the port will be suspended indefinitely, Maes added.