Death Count Rises To 11 In Hawaii Plane Crash
HONOLULU (AP) -- The latest on a fatal plane crash in Hawaii (all times local):
10:40 a.m.
An eyewitness says he saw an airplane turn around shortly after takeoff from a Hawaii airfield before it skimmed some trees and crashed, killing 11 people.
Steven Tickemeyer told Honolulu television station KHON that it appeared the plane carrying skydivers turned around from the mountains near Dillingham Airfield on Oahu's North Shore.
He says the plane was flying at a low altitude, skimmed some trees and crashed near the perimeter fence of the airport.
Tickemeyer says when he arrived at the scene a couple of minutes later, the plane was engulfed in flames.
Federal investigators will determine the cause of the crash. Officials initially said nine people died in the crash before changing the death toll to 11.
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10:10 a.m.
Officials in Hawaii have raised the death toll to 11 after a plane carrying skydivers crashed on Oahu.
Timothy Sakahara, a spokesman for the state transportation department, said Saturday that authorities have confirmed there were 11 people onboard the plane that went down shortly after taking off Friday night from a small North Shore airport
Sakahara says there were no survivors. The Honolulu Fire Department said the plane was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Officials had initially said there were nine people on board the airplane, and all perished.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team of investigators to probe the cause of the deadly crash.
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8:30 a.m.
A state official says a skydiving flight that crashed in Hawaii, killing nine people, was operated by the Oahu Parachute Center.
Tim Sakahara of the Hawaii Department of Transportation said Saturday that six employees and three customers were killed.
He said the group may have been planning tandem jumps that involve one customer and one employee.
No identities were immediately released after the Friday crash.
Calls to the company early Saturday went unanswered.
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6 a.m.
A team of federal crash investigators is being sent to Hawaii to determine why a plane carrying parachutists crashed, killing nine people.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said preliminary reports indicate the crash occurred as the plane took off from a small airport north of Honolulu.
The twin-engine Beechcraft BE65 crashed Friday near Dillingham Airfield on Oahu's North Shore.
The plane was destroyed by fire near a perimeter fence.
The National Transportation Safety Board isn't expected to release a report on the cause of the crash for about a year.
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9:40 p.m.
Honolulu's fire chief says a plane that crashed Friday night, killing nine people on board, was used in a skydiving operation.
Fire chief Manuel Neves said there were no survivors in the crash near Dillingham Airfield on Oahu's North Shore.
The plane in flames when firefighters arrived.
Names of the victims have not been released.
Neves says some family members stayed at the airport while the flight took off.
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9:21 p.m.
Authorities in Hawaii are investigating after nine people were killed in a small plane crash.
The crash occurred Friday evening on the North Shore of Oahu. Officials say there were no survivors in the crash at Dillingham Airfield.
Honolulu Police Chief Manuel Neves said the plane was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived. The crash was far from the airfield's runway, near perimeter fencing.
Other details of the crash weren't immediately known.
Names of the victims have not been released.
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