Chile air force plane with 21 aboard crashes

SANTIAGO: A Chilean air force plane with 21 people aboard, including a popular local television host, crashed in the ocean Friday near the Juan Fernandez islands off the country’s Pacific coast, authorities said.

The CASA military plane tried twice to land at the airport on the remote island but strong wind gusts buffeted the aircraft and it later was lost from sight, said Felipe Paredes, a local council member who was in the airport’s control tower at the time.

Rescuers in boats were searching for the plane, but the mayor of Juan Fernandez, Leopoldo Gonzalez, said some luggage had been found in the water and it was clear the plane crashed. “We assume that there was an accident and that there are no survivors,” he said.

President Sebastian Pinera expressed sadness. “This is a blow to our country. In these times of anguish and uncertainty is when unity is most needed,” he said.

Defence Minister Andres Allamand called it a “particularly difficult” situation, but said that for now the plane was still listed as “missing.”

Authorities said popular Chilean television personality Felipe Camiroaga was flying to the island to do a programme on the reconstruction of Juan Fernandez island following the magnitude-8.8 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out its main town on Feb. 27, 2010.

The 44—year—old TV presenter was one of five people from Television Nacional’s programme “Good Morning Everyone” who were travelling to the island.