July 19, 2006 – Four people aboard a DC-3 were rescued shortly after the plane crashed into the ocean one mile west of Cyril E. King Airport Wednesday morning. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff at 7:20 a.m.
All four were in stable condition according to Ricardo Castrodad, Coast Guard public affairs specialist at sector seven in San Juan.
He said the four passengers were able get aboard the aircraft's life raft and were picked up quickly by a "good Samaritan" vessel. "From the moment we received the report to when they were recovered was 40 minutes," Castrodad said.
He said the Coast Guard sent its 25-foot vessel to the scene, but the four had already been rescued by the time the Coast Guard arrived.
The Four Star Aviation plane had brought mail from San Juan to St. Thomas, Castrodad said. He said it should have been empty since it had dropped the mail off.
Stuart Diamond, chief executive officer of Four Star, said, "One of the engines appears to have failed on takeoff." He said he intends to fully cooperate with all the agencies investigating the accident.
Castrodad said a pollution response team would be sent to the crash site to check for any pollution that might be released as a result of the accident. He said the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the cause of the accident.
The names of the four passengers were not immediately available. One source said only one had gone to Schneider Regional Medical Center. The other three refused treatment.
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