20 Killed in Tahiti Plane Crash
August 10, 2007
An Air Moorea plane crashed Thursday shortly after takeoff from the island in Tahiti, killing all 20 people on board.
The dead included two European Commission officials, Air New Zealand reported. Oceania Flash identified them as Michel Gauche, based in Fiji, and Jean-Pierre Pierard from Noumea in New Caledonia.
The Twin Otter, a twin-engine turboprop, was bound from Moorea to Papeete, the capital of Tahiti. It had just taken off when it crashed into a lagoon at the end of the airstrip.
The plane was carrying 18 passengers and two crew members. Three of those on board were foreign tourists.
Gauche and Pierard had come to Tahiti to for discussions with Gaston Tong Sang, president of French Polynesia, on EC-financed development projects.
Topics:
Disaster Accident, Geography, Oceania, Air Moorea, Air Moorea Flight, Papeete, French Polynesia, Moorea, Tahiti