JGM
01-27-2007, 07:28 AM
I just read something, I hope this is not true. The Olsen Twins (Michelle) was killed in a plane crash. Here is the article:
Teen sensations Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s lives cut tragically short in an airplane crash in the Bahamas.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A vintage seaplane with 20 people on board broke into at least two pieces and crashed Friday into the ocean off Miami, killing at least 19 people aboard among them Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, authorities said.
The plane, which takes off and lands on the water, was flying from the Bahamas to Miami when the crash happened about 9:30 a.m., officials said.
Amateur video showed what appeared to be the main fuselage slamming into the water, followed by a large ball of fire -- possibly one of its wings. Beachgoers and vacationers could be seen just hundreds of yards from where the plane and the other piece hit.
"That's a truly remarkable piece of film, those poor girls." said Robert Francis, the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
He said it "will now allow the NTSB to prioritize, a little bit, what they're looking for in terms of the wreckage." The twin’s bodies have yet to be recovered.
Witnesses described hearing a loud explosion and seeing the plane break up.
One woman at the scene said the plane was flying "pretty low" and "a little bit loud," when, "all of a sudden, we just heard it blow up."
"I saw two pieces, and it went down into the water," she said.
Another witness said he saw a wing come off, and "it exploded."
The crash prompted an urgent search-and-rescue operation involving the Coast Guard, fire department and other emergency departments.
Three Coast Guard search vessels, aided by private boats and at least one helicopter, searched the waters. Television footage taken from the air showed divers in the water, with the submerged plane partially visible and part of the wreckage on a nearby rock jetty.
Coast Guard crews secured the submerged fuselage, while divers searched for possible survivors. By Monday evening, 19 bodies had been recovered, among them CEO of Dualstar Entertainment Group, Diane Reichenberger , said Coast Guard Capt. James Mays.
Dualstar Entertainment was bought by the Olsen Twins in 2004, when they turned 18. Diane’s family declined comment. The girls were said to be scouting locations for their next film entitled “How Mary Kate got her Groove back”.
This is truly a loss to great Cinema, and their premature deaths will devastate fans the world over.
"This is a tragic event, I really loved their films" Coast Guard Petty Officer Dana Warr told CNN.
The Grumman G-73 airplane, operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways, took off from the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. Airline officials said the plane had been carrying 21 people: two pilots and 19 passengers.
However, a Coast Guard official later said the plane may have had a total of 25 people aboard, 23 passengers and two crew members.
The airline's general manager, Roger Nair, told reporters the crash of Flight 101 was the company's first involving passengers since it was founded in 1919.
NTSB records confirmed that the airline had never had a fatal accident with passengers on board before Friday. However, a Chalk's plane crashed in March 1994 near Key West, Florida, killing the two pilots aboard. No passengers were on that plane.
Shortly after Friday's crash, the Port of Miami was shut down, and cruise liners were diverted from the area so they would not interfere with the rescue operation, said Warr, who described seeing the plane as it took off.
"I didn't think anything of it. I had seen this aircraft take off and land numerous times, taking celebrities to and from the islands. “He said.
"It really gives me chills to know that I saw this aircraft, and to think that everything was OK. And just seconds later, Coast Guard personnel are responding to this tragic event," he said.
A team of investigators from the NTSB began arriving in the afternoon in Miami. Senior air safety investigator William English will lead the team.
Acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker told reporters in Miami late Monday that a salvage team on Tuesday morning would attempt to raise the plane, which was built in 1997.
Investigators will also begin gathering maintenance and operating records on the plane and the operator, he said, and they will attempt to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder and send it to Washington for a reading.
"We'll be looking at everything in this investigation. Nothing is off the table," he said.
A spokeswoman for the FBI's Miami office said two agents have been sent to the site but that there was no evidence of foul play."
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Teen sensations Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s lives cut tragically short in an airplane crash in the Bahamas.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A vintage seaplane with 20 people on board broke into at least two pieces and crashed Friday into the ocean off Miami, killing at least 19 people aboard among them Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, authorities said.
The plane, which takes off and lands on the water, was flying from the Bahamas to Miami when the crash happened about 9:30 a.m., officials said.
Amateur video showed what appeared to be the main fuselage slamming into the water, followed by a large ball of fire -- possibly one of its wings. Beachgoers and vacationers could be seen just hundreds of yards from where the plane and the other piece hit.
"That's a truly remarkable piece of film, those poor girls." said Robert Francis, the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
He said it "will now allow the NTSB to prioritize, a little bit, what they're looking for in terms of the wreckage." The twin’s bodies have yet to be recovered.
Witnesses described hearing a loud explosion and seeing the plane break up.
One woman at the scene said the plane was flying "pretty low" and "a little bit loud," when, "all of a sudden, we just heard it blow up."
"I saw two pieces, and it went down into the water," she said.
Another witness said he saw a wing come off, and "it exploded."
The crash prompted an urgent search-and-rescue operation involving the Coast Guard, fire department and other emergency departments.
Three Coast Guard search vessels, aided by private boats and at least one helicopter, searched the waters. Television footage taken from the air showed divers in the water, with the submerged plane partially visible and part of the wreckage on a nearby rock jetty.
Coast Guard crews secured the submerged fuselage, while divers searched for possible survivors. By Monday evening, 19 bodies had been recovered, among them CEO of Dualstar Entertainment Group, Diane Reichenberger , said Coast Guard Capt. James Mays.
Dualstar Entertainment was bought by the Olsen Twins in 2004, when they turned 18. Diane’s family declined comment. The girls were said to be scouting locations for their next film entitled “How Mary Kate got her Groove back”.
This is truly a loss to great Cinema, and their premature deaths will devastate fans the world over.
"This is a tragic event, I really loved their films" Coast Guard Petty Officer Dana Warr told CNN.
The Grumman G-73 airplane, operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways, took off from the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. Airline officials said the plane had been carrying 21 people: two pilots and 19 passengers.
However, a Coast Guard official later said the plane may have had a total of 25 people aboard, 23 passengers and two crew members.
The airline's general manager, Roger Nair, told reporters the crash of Flight 101 was the company's first involving passengers since it was founded in 1919.
NTSB records confirmed that the airline had never had a fatal accident with passengers on board before Friday. However, a Chalk's plane crashed in March 1994 near Key West, Florida, killing the two pilots aboard. No passengers were on that plane.
Shortly after Friday's crash, the Port of Miami was shut down, and cruise liners were diverted from the area so they would not interfere with the rescue operation, said Warr, who described seeing the plane as it took off.
"I didn't think anything of it. I had seen this aircraft take off and land numerous times, taking celebrities to and from the islands. “He said.
"It really gives me chills to know that I saw this aircraft, and to think that everything was OK. And just seconds later, Coast Guard personnel are responding to this tragic event," he said.
A team of investigators from the NTSB began arriving in the afternoon in Miami. Senior air safety investigator William English will lead the team.
Acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker told reporters in Miami late Monday that a salvage team on Tuesday morning would attempt to raise the plane, which was built in 1997.
Investigators will also begin gathering maintenance and operating records on the plane and the operator, he said, and they will attempt to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder and send it to Washington for a reading.
"We'll be looking at everything in this investigation. Nothing is off the table," he said.
A spokeswoman for the FBI's Miami office said two agents have been sent to the site but that there was no evidence of foul play."
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