Posted on Mon, Dec. 19, 2005
At least six dead in South Beach plane crash
By MATTHEW I. PINZUR and CHUCK RABIN
[email protected]
At least six people died Monday afternoon when a seaplane crashed just outside Government Cut near South Beach, sending jet skiers, surfers and rescue workers scrambling to pull passengers from the ocean.
Witnesses on South Beach said the plane flying east and trailing smoke before the rear burst into flames around 2:30 p.m.
''It was the most awful thing I've ever seen,'' said Cindy Streetman, a 45-year-old tourist from South Carolina, who saw the plane somersault into the water. ''I don't see how anyone could have survived.''
There were 14 passengers and two pilots aboard the plane, according to Coast Guard Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil. Six bodies had been recovered by 3:30 p.m., and he said there were no reports of survivors.
The plane was operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways, a South Florida airline the flies to Bimini and Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The company had no immediate comment.
According to the airline's website, its fleet is ''undergoing an extensive refurbishment program which includes complete mechanical overhaul and cosmetic renovation, in addition to all new interior appointments.''
Dozens of people scoured the waters and a half-mile debris field of plane parts and fuel just outside Government Cut and south Miami Beach. At least a dozen rescue vehicles were on the scene, including air-rescue helicopters and a hazardous-materials team.
The last crash of a Chalk's plane came in 2000, when 15 passengers were virtually unscathed after an accident off Watson Island. Six years earlier, two crew members were killed when an otherwise-empty plane crashed off Key West. Those 1994 deaths were the only fatalities in Chalk's 85-year history.
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