Fiery plane crash claims 9 people on Oahu's North Shore
Honolulu: Nine people died in a fiery crash of a small airplane used in a sky dive operation, officials in Hawaii said.
There were no survivors after the twin engine King Air plane crashed Friday night near Dillingham Airfield, on Oahu's North Shore, Hawaii Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Sakahara said.
"Upon arrival, we saw the plane fully engulfed in fire," Honolulu Fire Chief Manuel Neves told reporters on the scene. "The first crews on scene extinguished the fire."
Neves said the crashed occurred near the perimeter fencing of the small airport. "They're quite a ways away from the runway," he said.
The plane was used in a sky dive operation, and Neves said some family members of those on board waited at the airport for the plane to return.
The debris field was relatively small, about 50 feet (15 meters) by 50 feet (15 meters), he said.
"In my 40 years as a firefighter here in Hawaii, this is the most tragic aircraft incident what we've had," he told reporters at the scene, about an hour's drive north of Honolulu.
Crews with Honolulu Emergency Services said it assisted with death pronouncements of the nine after receiving the call at 6:26 pm local time, agency spokeswoman Shayne Enright said.
Names, ages and genders of the deceased have not been released.
Neves said many details are still not known about the flight. But he says witnesses have said the plane was inbound to the airport when the crash occurred but that has not been confirmed.
Officials initially reported that six people had been on board.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
After arriving from Delhi, Shinde heads to his native village; Mahayuti meet likely on Sun
Mumbai(PTI): Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who returned to Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday morning, is travelling to his native village in Satara district amid continuing suspense over his successor a week after the assembly poll results.
Shinde had told reporters in New Delhi on late Thursday night that the next meeting of the Mahayuti alliance on government formation will be held in Mumbai on Friday.
However, the caretaker CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, is travelling to his native village Dare in Satara district in western Maharashtra and the meeting is now expected to take place on Sunday, the sources said.
The Shiv Sena leader has repeatedly said he would not be an obstacle in the government formation and abide by the decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the next chief minister.
Different viewpoints are emerging in the Shiv Sena over Shinde's place in the next government to be headed by the BJP, the biggest constituent in the Mahayuti, which posted a thumping win in the just-held assembly polls.
Many leaders in the Shiv Sena are asking Shinde to accept deputy CM's post if offered by the BJP. However, another section feels it wouldn't be right for him to accept No. 2 position after serving as CM for more than two-and-a-half years, the sources said.
"The government formation process will start after the BJP announces its legislature party leader," they said.
During his Delhi trip, Shinde had met Shah and discussed formation of the next government in the state. His deputies in the outgoing state cabinet Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) had also met the senior BJP leader.
Talking to reporters in the national capital, Shinde called the discussion “good and positive”.
Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar had also met BJP president J P Nadda.
