Air Transport

An Air Moorea de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter has crashed into the sea off Moorea Island, a French Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean, reportedly killing all 20 people on board.

The airline says the aircraft (right) crashed 1nm (1.85km) from the end of the Moorea airport runway after take-off from the South Pacific island. It was headed for the French Polynesian capital Papeete on the island of Tahiti. The accident occurred shortly after midday in good weather.

An Air Moorea de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed after take-off  into the sea off Moorea Island

On board were 19 passengers, including two tourists, and one pilot, according to the airline. It says in a statement that the 52-year-old pilot had 3,500 hours of flying experience.

The DHC-6-300 was registered as F-OIQI and only entered service with the airline late last year. Air Moorea says that the aircraft, which was delivered to it in November, had accumulated 30,833 flying hours before today’s crash. It says the aircraft was last given a detailed technical inspection on 19 July.

According to Flight’s ACAS database, the airline’s fleet comprised four Twin Otters. Air Moorea is a subsidiary of French Polynesia’s main domestic operator Air Tahiti. F-OIQI was built in 1979 and had a manufacturer’s serial number of 608.