11 killed in Hawaii skydiving plane crash

A skydiving plane crashed after take off from a small airport on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, killing all 11 people on board, officials said Saturday.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted that officials "confirmed there were 11 people on board the plane that went down soon after takeoff from Dillingham Airfield with no survivors."

Earlier, authorities had said that nine people were onboard the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane when it crashed at about 6:30 p.m. local time (04:30 UTC) on Friday.

The plane was manufactured in 1967 and operated by Oahu Parachute Center skydiving company.

Those onboard were believed to have been both employees and customers. The company offers tandem skydives in which the customer is attached to the employee.

On its website, the company encourages customers to "experience the beauty of Hawaii" from over 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) at 120 mph (193 kph). 

cw/aw (AP, Reuters)

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