Plane Crashes in Sea Off Sicily, Killing 13

At least 13 people were killed and 23 injured Saturday when a Tunisian airliner crashed into the sea near Sicily after reporting a technical problem, authorities said.

The Tuninter plane was carrying 34 Italians and five crew members on a charter flight from Bari, in southeastern Italy, to the popular Tunisian resort island of Djerba when it lost engine power.

The pilot made a distress call to Palermo airport and said he wanted to make an emergency landing.

“They asked to land at Punta Raisi [Palermo airport], but they didn’t make it,” said Vito Riggio, head of the civil aviation authority ENAC. “The pilot said he would try a sea landing but was unable to.”

About 15 minutes later, the French-built ATR-72 turboprop plane crashed into the sea about 12 miles off Palermo.

Some of the 23 survivors clung to the wings and fuselage as they screamed to rescuers. The wreckage was battered by 10-foot waves and strong currents, delaying the rescuers’ arrival.

“Some people were on the wing, screaming, yelling for help,” said Filippo Morgante, an official with Palermo’s fire department, which sent boats out for the rescue.

“Others were on the fuselage, and some were trapped inside the plane. Some weren’t wearing lifejackets. Maybe they didn’t have the time to put them on.”

The injured brought to shore had bloody faces and ripped clothes, and some were yelling in pain. The port was crowded with ambulances.

The coast guard said six of the 23 injured were seriously hurt. The pilot and copilot were among the survivors.

Three people were missing. The search and rescue mission continued into the night, and rescue services were slowly dragging a chunk of fuselage back to shore, the coast guard said.