A small airplane plunged into the sea moments after taking off from the French Polynesian resort island of Moorea, apparently killing all 20 people aboard in the territory's worst-ever plane crash, officials said Friday. Two Australian tourists, two European Union officials, and a group of Polynesian environmental and tourism officials were among those aboard the Twin Otter DHC6 turboprop when it crashed Thursday, according to the territory's High Commission, which represents France in French Polynesia.
           The crash's cause was unclear. No one was believed to have survived the crash, and rescue efforts were called off as night fell, the High Commission said in a statement. Rescue workers, helped by French navy ships and local fishing boats, recovered the bodies of 16 passengers and the pilot, the territory's No. 2 French official, Jacques Witkowski, said on RTL radio Friday. He called it French Polynesia's worst-ever airplane accident.
           Suitcases bobbed in the lagoon as helicopters circled above and rescue boats, flying the French tricolor, scoured the area. Worried residents gathered on the wharf, clustering around fishing boats as they returned. Shaken fishermen described seeing the plane crash so quickly that they didn't understand what had happened. The High Commission said the plane was resting on the sea floor, about 2,300 feet deep. The plane went down within a minute after takeoff at noon Thursday. The Air Moorea flight was heading for Tahiti, 11 miles away, on what would have been just a seven-minute journey.

Learn more about the August 10, 2007 Air Moorea turboprop crash in the French Pacific.