- Title: ITALY: 13, DEAD, 23 INJURED IN TUNISAIR PLANE CRASH OFF SICILY.
- Date: 7th August 2005
- Summary: (BN15) OFF PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY (AUGUST 6, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV/GV/TV: SITE OF PLANE CRASH AT SEA; RESCUE HELICOPTERS IN AIR; VARIOUS OF DEBRIS IN WATER (7 SHOTS) 0.31 2. MCU: RESCUE TEAM MEMBER SPEAKING ON PHONE ON BOAT 0.38 3. GV: CARABINIERI BOAT WITH DEAD BODY ON BACK 0.50 4. CU: MORE PLANE DEBRIS, SUITCASE, CHAIRS (2 SHOTS) 0.59 5. MV/TILT: RESCUE WORKERS ON BOAT LOWERING ROPES INTO SEA 1.03 6. CU: PLANE DEBRIS FLOATING IN SEA 1.12 7. LV/ZOOM IN CU: CORPSE FLOATING IN SEA 1.21 8. LAS/TILT/LV/GV: HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD; DEBRIS FLOATING ON SEA (2 SHOTS) 1.37 9. GV/CU: CARABINIERI ON RESCUE BOAT TRYING TO PULL DEBRIS FROM WATER, PLANE CHAIRS (2 SHOTS) 1.45 10. GV: DIVERS ON RESCUE SHIP 1.52 11. GV: PUSH CHAIR IN WATER 1.57 12. GV: CORPSE ON BOAT 2.03 13. GV/LV: RESCUE BOAT MOVING ON WATER; HELICOPTER OVERHEAD (2 SHOTS) 2.13 14. GV/CU: PLANE DEBRIS ON SEA; FLIP FLOP FLOATING ON WATER (2 SHOTS) 2.21 15. MCU/PAN: RESCUE CREW ON BOARD BOAT, COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING POSITION OF CRASH 2.33 16. LV/GV: PLANE IN WATER (2 SHOTS) 2.49 17. MV/ZOOM OUT/GV: CORPSE ON BOAT BEING COVERED WITH BLANKET 2.58 18. GV/PAN: PEOPLE AND AMBULANCES ON QUAYSIDE 3.09 19. GV/PAN: LINE OF PEOPLE HOLDING UP WHITE SHEET TO PREVENT VIEW OF RECOVERED CORPSES 3.18 20. MCU: WOMAN CRYING 3.33 (BN12) PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY (AUGUST 6, 2005) (SKY ITALIA - NO ACCESS ITALY) 21. GV/GV/PAN: AMBULANCES LINED UP AT PORT; STRETCHERS BEING WHEELED ALONG PORT (4 SHOTS) 3.52 22. GV/MV/PAN: RESCUE WORKERS ON BOAT WITH WOUNDED; WOUNDED PERSON LYING ON BOAT, RESCUE WORKERS AROUND, CARRYING WOUNDED WOMAN ONTO STRETCHER (3 SHOTS) 4.23 23. GV/MCU: RESCUE WORKERS WITH WOUNDED AT PORT; INJURED TAKEN OFF BOAT (2 SHOTS) 4.37 24. GV/GV/PAN/LV: WOUNDED ON STRETCHER BEING TAKEN TO AMBULANCE; RESCUE WORKERS ON QUAYSIDE (3 SHOTS) 4.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PALERMO AND AT SEA, OFF PALERMO, SICILY, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVACDQT2PSU5YM11LGYLDCDQVSS
- Story Text: At least 13 dead in and 23 injured in Tunisair plane
crash off the coast of Sicily.
At least 13 people were killed and 23 injured when
their Tunisair charter flight crashed into the sea near
Sicily on Saturday (August 6) after reporting a technical
fault, emergency services said.
The plane was carrying 34 Italians and five crew from
Bari, in southeastern Italy, to the popular Tunisian resort
island of Djerba when it encountered a "lack of engine
power", according to Tuninter, the charter arm of the
Tunisian airline that operated the flight.
The pilot made a distress call to Palermo airport at
3:24 p.m. (1324 GMT) and said he wanted to make an
emergency landing.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the pilots asked to land at
Punta
Raisi (Palermo airport), but they didn't make
it.
Some 15 minutes later, the French-built ATR 72
turbo-prop plane ditched into the sea about 12 miles (19
km) off Palermo.
Reuters TV pictures showed dead bodies floating in the
crystal clear Mediterranean alongside luggage and parts of
fuselage. What looked to be the tail of the aircraft was
floating adrift.
Some of the survivors climbed onto the plane's wings as
it it bobbed in the sea to await rescue.
Casualties brought to shore in Palermo were helped out
of rescue launches, many with bloody faces and ripped
clothes, some yelling in pain. The port was crowded with
ambulances while helicopters buzzed overhead.
The Palermo coastguard said of the 34 passengers and
five crew, 13 were dead, 23 injured, of whom six seriously,
and three were missing.
The search and rescue mission continued well into the
night and rescue services were slowly dragging a chunk of
fuselage back to shore, the coastguard said.
The crash was Italy's worst air accident since 2001
when 118 people were killed at Milan's Linate airport when
a private jet collided in heavy fog into an SAS airliner.
Palermo airport was the site of another airline
disaster in 1978, when an Alitalia plane missed the runway
by several miles and plummeted into the water, killing more
than 100 people. Most of the victims drowned because of
delays in rescue efforts.
The ATR 72, made by Avions de Transport Regional, can
carry up to 72 passengers. An ENAC official said the plane
had passed safety inspections in Italy, with its most
recent checks carried out in March.
ATR is jointly owned by France's EADS and Alenia
Aeronautica, a division of Italy's Finmeccanica.
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