| Main | News | Dhivehi | Editorials | Opinions | Guestbook |About Maldives |Downloads |About us | Links | 09 December 2005 07:50

Sea plane crash in Maldives ; 17 on board include 10 German and 4 Swiss tourists and 3 Maldivians

by Dhivehi Observer, 17 May 2004 

There has been a sea plane crash in the Maldives this morning at about 08:10 Maldives time (05:10 GMT) . The plane crashed onto the runway of Male' International Airport on Hulhule Island during take off carrying tourists to Velaavaru Resort in Dhaalu Atoll.
 
The airport on Hulhule Island is about a mile from Male' the capital and serves as the only transport hub for international and inter-resort transfers in the Maldives. The airport has a single runway which was closed off immediately after the accident.
 
The aircraft is a Canadian built Twin-Otter sea plane operated by Trans Maldivians Airways (TMA), a Maldivian company. According to our sources in the Maldives, the cause of the accident is believed to be loosing altitude during take off due to strong wind according to friends of the pilot.
 
According to the Civil Aviation Department of Maldives, 17 people were confirmed to be onboard which included 10 German nationals, 4 Swiss nationals and 3 Maldivians. Confirmed reports say that the three Maldivians were the pilot, co-pilot and a cabin crew member. All foreign nationals were tourists on their way to Velaavaru resort in Dhaalu atoll.
 
Local newspaper Haveeru reported that according to an official of Velaavaru resort who was at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital  in Male', that one female German tourist was seriously injured.  According to our sources, the tourist is in critical condition and little is known to the exact details of the injuries sustained.
Velaavaru Resort also confirmed that they are making arrangements to send her overseas for immediate treatment.
 
Little detail is also available at the time of publishing of injuries sustained by the 2 Maldivian nationals on board. It is believed that both the pilot and co-pilot also received serious injuries. They are currently in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) undergoing specialist treatment but is reported to be stable. The co-pilot, Mr. Mohamed Hamza is to be flown out to Singapore tonight for further treatment. He obtained injuries to the spine as well his shoulder and a deep cut in on his neck as confirmed by his family.
 
To add to the disaster, the whole area was cordoned off for President Gayyoom to visit the scene and resort owners are furious because they cannot attend to their other guests who are waiting to be air lifted to the numerous resorts. A person who was on the scene at the time of the crash  informed to Dhivehi Observer that the crash looked "horrible and lots of blood was everywhere". He also reported, that the injured pilot of the TMA plane, was kept in Hulhule Airport until president Gayyoom arrived on the location of the accident to show 'solidarity' and 'concern' for the victims of the crash.
 
A tour operator said "this is very bad for our business, what we need now is to be with our clients and comfort them, all of them who are waiting to go to the resorts but it is more important for Gayyoom to go there with maximum security than for us to look after our guests who are obviously in shock, not only those who were on board, this guy does not know how to deal with disasters and he is not good at public relations"
 
Haveeru reports, the cause of the accident as, "one of the floats of the plane came off when the plane hit the side of the runway because the plane could not pick up enough speed during take off".
 
The closing of the runway  saw many delays in both on international and domestic Arrivals and Departures. The Airport re-opened again today at 12.30pm local time.
 
The seaport is located adjacent to the international airport. On arrival, those tourists going to the far away resorts, outside of Male' Atoll, are transferred to the seaport terminal by bus from there they catch the seaplane. Several flights operate during the day to the resorts and this accident will cause many to be apprehensive about seaplane transfer, especially those awaiting to catch flights today. It is not known whether the authorities have made any arrangements to treat people who must have sustained major psychological shock and trauma because of this incident.
 

 Haveeru Daily News  
BREAKING NEWS: TMA seaplane crashes on airport runway, 17 aboard all safe, Maldivian pilot and co-pilot and two foreign tourists seriously injured read more
 
Haveeru Photos
 
 
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