Free Republic

MIAMI BEACH -- An airline voluntarily grounded its fleet Wednesday for inspection after cracks were found in the main support beam of a wing that fell off its seaplane that crashed, killing all 20 people aboard, federal officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration took no action against Chalk's Ocean Airways, which operates four other seaplanes, spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The move came the same day federal investigators said they were trying to determine why Chalk's had apparently not discovered the cracks. The 58-year-old plane's cockpit voice recorder was found and was being sent to National Transportation Safety Board investigators in...

A 1940s-era seaplane that lost a wing during takeoff and crashed within sight of the beach, killing all 20 people aboard, had undetected cracks in its airframe that apparently caused the aircraft to break up, federal investigators said Wednesday. After the discovery was disclosed, Chalk's Ocean Airways voluntarily grounded its fleet of four planes for inspection. All four planes are the same model as the one that crashed. 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...

A twin-engine seaplane lost one of its wings before it crashed off Miami Beach into the city's main shipping channel killing at least 19 people on board, a US federal safety official said on Tuesday. Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told a news conference the breaking apart of the aircraft could be seen in video footage of the Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard, filmed in its final moments on Monday above water. "What I've seen is a separation of a wing from the aircraft and, as a result, the aircraft crashing. I can't tell you why,"...

A Chalk's seaplane burst into flames over South Beach on Monday, killing all 20 people on board -- including three infants -- and plummeting into the ocean so close to shore that lifeguards, surfers and Jet Skiers were the first on the scene. The cause of the crash remained unknown, but witnesses said the plane's rear half exploded, shearing off the left wing and sending the flight tumbling to the sea shortly after its 2:30 p.m. takeoff from Watson Island.

Small Plane Crashes Off Miami Beach LIVE Webcast: WFOR-TV Coverage Save It Email this Article Email It Print this Article Print It (AP) MIAMI BEACH, Fla. Firefighters say a plane with 17 on board has crashed off Miami Beach.