A light aircraft carrying skydivers crashed in Hawaii in the United States on Friday evening, killing nine people on board, CNN reported on Saturday. The aircraft crashed close to Dillingham Airfield near Mokuleia in Honolulu County.
There were no survivors from the King Air flight, the Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted.
Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel P Neves told CNN that the aircraft was on a skydiving excursion when it crashed. Firefighters arrived for the rescue mission when the plane had already gone up in flames. The firefighters worked to douse the fire.
“This is the most tragic aircraft incident that we had,” Neves said. “We had some helicopters with the military but this is a civilian plane that went down and with that many people on board.”
Neves said the names of the passengers have not yet been released, but some family members were at the airfield when the incident took place. The Federal Aviation Administration will take over the investigation into the incident.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell tweeted that he was closely following the developments in the matter. “At this time our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims,” he said.
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