Plane Carrying 20 Crashes in Florida
Monday, December 19, 2005

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. "” A propeller plane carrying 19 passengers and two crew members crashed Monday just off Miami Beach, and there were some fatalities, authorities said.

The Chalk's Ocean Airways plane crashed into the water shortly before 3 p.m., said Miami Beach Fire Department support services chief Javier Otero. He said there were two confirmed fatalities and some survivors.

"We're still trying to get people out of the water," Otero said.

Otero said the plane was one that regularly schedules flights to and from the Bahamas, but he did not know immediately whether the aircraft was incoming or outgoing.

Television helicopter footage showed a debis field in Government Cut, the channel that ships take into the Port of Miami past South Beach. Law enforcement boats and helicopters were in the area doing searches. The were joined by others in private boats, on Jet Skis and on surfboards.

Chalk's Ocean Airways was founded in 1919. Its floating planes take off in the water. Chalk's aircraft have been featured in TV shows like "Miami Vice."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179168,00.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BF,

All passengers died. Just tragic.

All Dead in Plane Crash Off Miami Beach
Monday, December 19, 2005

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. "” A seaplane carrying 19 people to an island in the Bahamas crashed in a ball of fire and smoke in the waters off Miami Beach Monday, killing all those aboard, local authorities said.

"All of the bodies have been recovered," said Jorge Gonzalez, Miami Beach city manager.

Among the 17 passengers and two crew on board the Chalk's Ocean Airways plane were three infants. The plane departed from Watson Island.

Ocean rescue personnel witnessed the plane crash, said Miami Beach Fire Chief Floyd Jordan. Smoke billowed from the engines, followed by an explosion that apparently tore one wing off the aircraft and sent it diving into the water, he said.

Scuba divers and rescuers in speedboats had struggled to find survivors, but to no avail.

"Originally our lifeguards went into the water to try to retrieve as many survivors as they could ... into the water and into the plane as best they could," said Jordan. "They were unable to find any survivors."

The plane went down around 2:30 p.m. in a narrow channel used by cruise ships, crashing on takeoff from Miami on a flight to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said.


Because of witness reports of an explosion before the propeller-driven twin-engine Turbine Mallard went down, 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.

"It's too soon to say whether we are going to get involved," Orihuela said. "We're just going to check it out."

Coast Guardsmen and emergency workers wearing protective suits hauled bodies up from rescue boats, rushing to find victims before darkness fell. Law enforcement speedboats, divers and helicopters took part in the search and were joined by others in private boats, on personal watercraft and on surfboards.

A witness, Frank Amadeo, told WSVN-TV that he saw a huge explosion in the sky and the plane fall behind a condominium tower on Biscayne Bay in Miami Beach.

The Coast Guard said the cause of the crash was not immediately known, and it could not confirm whether there had been an explosion. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate.

The crash scattered debris in Government Cut, a channel that cruise ships and freighters take past South Beach into the Port of Miami.

Chalk's Ocean Airways flies between Miami and the Bahamas, using planes that take off and land on the water. Chalk's aircraft have been featured in TV shows such as "Miami Vice." Its seaplanes take off in view of the port and the multimillion-dollar homes that dot islands in the bay.

Founded by Arthur "Pappy" Chalk in 1919, the airline thrived during Prohibition, taking bootleggers, their customers and customs agents to Bimini. According to the airline, its most famous regular passenger was Ernest Hemingway, who flew to Bimini to go big-game fishing.

One of its planes was hijacked to Cuba in 1974 and the company has since had a policy of not carrying enough fuel to get to Havana.

Two years later, the airline was sold to Resorts International, which owned properties on Paradise Island. Donald Trump bought it in 1988 and sold it a few months later to Merv Griffin. The owner as of 1995 was Seth Atwood of United Capital Corporation of Illinois/Atwood Enterprises.

According to its Web site, Chalk's operates 17-passenger Turbine Mallards.

According to FlightSafe Consultants' Airline Safety Web site, Chalk's has had no known fatal accidents. Similarly, the NTSB database shows no fatal accidents for Chalk's since 1982, when the database started.

Airline General Manager Roger Nair said this had been the only fatal crash in the airline's long history.

FOX News' Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179168,00.html

Posted on Mon, Dec. 19, 2005
Witnesses: Plane exploded before Miami Beach crash that killed 19LAURA WIDES-MUNOZAssociated PressMIAMI BEACH, Fla. - A seaplane carrying 20 people crashed into the water within sight of this city's high-rises Monday, killing 19 people, authorities said. The other person has not been found. Witnesses said the plane exploded in the air.
Nineteen bodies were recovered after the Chalk's Ocean Airways propeller plane crashed around 2:30 p.m. after takeoff en route to Bimini in the Bahamas, Coast Guard officials said. Two crew were aboard along with 18 passengers, including three infants.
Amateur video obtained by CNN showed the main part of the aircraft slamming into the water followed by a flaming object that was trailing thick black smoke.
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 spokesman Dana Warr also saw the crash from the Coast Guard office on an island in Government Cut, a channel just west of where the plane went down. Cargo and cruise ships use the channel to sail from the Atlantic past the posh South Beach neighborhood into the Port of Miami, which was closed because of the crash.
"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.
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. 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. That includes three large cruise ships that had been scheduled to depart Monday afternoon.
The historic airline's twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard was operating under visual flight rules, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate, but didn't know the cause of the crash.
The aircraft that went down was built in 1947 and is registered to Seaplane Adventures LLC in Greenwich, Conn., according to FAA records.
According to the FAA, the plane had a clean safety record with no reported incidents for more than 21 years. 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." No passengers or crew were injured in either incident.
Coast Guard officials and emergency workers wearing protective suits hauled bodies wrapped in black bags from rescue boats. Law enforcement speedboats, divers and helicopters were in the area doing searches. They were joined by others in private boats, on personal watercraft and on surfboards.
Because of the reports that there was an explosion, the FBI sent agents to assist in the investigation but there was no immediate indication of terrorism or criminal intent, said Judy Orihuela, spokeswoman for the FBI's Miami field office.
"It's too soon to say whether we are going to get involved," Orihuela said. "We're just going to check it out."
Chalk's is too small to fall under the federal guidelines that require that passengers and their luggage be inspected by Transportation Security Administration screeners, said Dale Karlen, federal security director at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The skies were cloudy at the time of the crash, but there was no rain or lightning in the area.
Garred Gadaon, 34, who was outside the Miami Beach Police Department, 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. Chalks has always been a safe plane for us, "said Gadaon.
He said that the airline confirmed his sister-in-law and niece were aboard.
"My family was on there. No survivors. None," Gadaon said.
Bahamian Prime Minister Perry G. Christie said in a statement that the consul general in Miami, Alma Adams, has already met some family members at the scene of the accident. The statement did not say how many Bahamians were among the victims.
"The nation wishes to express its deepest condolences to the people of Bimini on their apparent loss," Christie said.
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 that dot islands in the bay.
Founded by Arthur "Pappy" Chalk, the small airline thrived during Prohibition, taking bootleggers, their customers and Customs agents to Bimini.
One of its Grumman Goose's was hijacked to Cuba in 1974 and the company has since had a policy of not carrying enough fuel to get to Havana. Two years later, the airline was sold to Resorts International, which owned properties on Paradise Island.
Donald Trump bought it in 1988 and sold it a few months later to Merv Griffin.
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.
The company's Grumman G-73 aircraft - like the one that crashed - had engines 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 released few details, but said it was the airline's first accident with a passenger fatality. The National Transportation Safety Board database indicates no fatal accidents involving passengers for Chalk's since 1982, when the database began.
The only crash involving fatalities occurred March 18, 1994, when two pilots died after their seaplane crashed near Key West.
---
Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko and Denise Kalette in Miami Beach; John Pain and Curt Anderson in Miami; and Leslie Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/13444459.htm

The media is now reporting that there were 20 passengers, one person is missing at this point. 19 bodies have been recovered.

Cracks found in wing that separated from seaplane that crashed off Miami Beach

By CURT ANDERSON


MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A 1940s-era seaplane that lost a wing during takeoff and crashed within sight of the beach, killing all 20 people aboard, had cracks in its airframe that went unnoticed by the airline, federal investigators said Wednesday.

After the discovery was disclosed, Chalk's Ocean Airways voluntarily grounded its fleet for inspection.

The cracks were found in the main support beam of a wing that fell off the seaplane shortly after it took off for the Bahamas on Monday.

As salvage crews and divers worked to haul the wreckage from a channel just off Miami Beach, investigators focused on how the cracks escaped notice by maintenance crews.

Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, stopped short of saying the cracking was the sole reason the wing fell off the 58-year-old seaplane. But he told reporters the cracking should have been found and repaired, though it would have taken "a very serious" inspection to find it.

If Chalk's officials had known about the cracking in the Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallards "they would have repaired it and we wouldn't be here today. I don't think they knew it," Rosenker said.

Investigators planned to scour maintenance and flight records for evidence of work done.


The Federal Aviation Administration took no immediate action against the airline.

Chalk's general manager Roger Nair did not return repeated calls.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2005/12/19/1360206-ap.html