Plane explodes in Haiti, killing all 21 on board

Associated Press | August 24, 2003

[HAL9000]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - A commuter passenger plane exploded and crashed after take off Sunday from Haiti's northern city of Cap-Haitien, killing all 21 aboard, news reports said.

Five minutes after it took off Sunday afternoon, witnesses saw smoke billowing from the twin-propeller plane which sent distress signals to the Cap-Haitien control tower, private Radio Maxima reported.

There was an explosion and crash, witnesses told the radio station's director Jean-Robert Lalane, who spoke to The Associated Press AP by telephone from the scene.

It was unclear whether the explosion came before or after the crash, he said.

Lalane said thousands of people had gathered around the fuming wreckage at Lory, about three miles (five kilometers) west of the city, in a sugarcane field strewn with the charred bodies of the 19 passengers, pilot and co-pilot.

The 50-seater plane, which was on its way to Port-de-Paix, belonged to Tropical Airways, a Haitian company that runs daily flights to and from major Haitian cities, news reports said.

There were no other details immediately available about the aircraft, including its make. - AP

[leadpenny]

While looking for something else on FR I found this thread. Don't remember the incident and wonder if it this crash had something to do with the runup to the recent coop?