WORLD : 21 Aboard Plane, 4 in Home Die in Crash After Takeoff in Manila
A twin-engine inter-island plane crashed and exploded in a fireball in a Manila suburb today, killing all 21 people aboard and burning to death a family of four inside their home, officials said.
The propeller-driven Beechcraft 1900 aircraft went into a spin as it fell two minutes after takeoff from Manila’s airport. It slammed into the main bedroom of a house leased by a Japanese businessman, engulfing it in flames and scattering debris and bodies over a wide area.
The plane’s burning tail came to rest by the family swimming pool. The rest of the aircraft exploded in pieces.
Just before the crash, the pilot radioed the control tower that he was turning back because his right engine had cut out.
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