Twenty die in Tahiti plane crash

All 20 people on board died on 10 August when an aircraft crashed into the sea after taking off from the French Polynesian island of Moorea, according to reports received in New Zealand. Nobody survived a routine 15-kilometre flight to the capital Papeete which should have taken no more than five-to-seven minutes, the Oceania Flash news website reported. The 19 passengers included two officials from the European Commission’s delegation to the Pacific, Michel Gauche, who was based in Fiji and Jean-Pierre Pierard, based in Noumea, New Caledonia, the website reported. The pilot was named as Michel Santurelle and there were unconfirmed reports that two Australian tourists were among the dead. It was not clear what caused the Air Moorea De Havilland Twin Otter plane to plunge into the sea soon after take off on a perfect sunny day.