A Miami NBC affiliate reports:
A seaplane carrying 20 people crashed into the water off Miami Beach Monday afternoon, killing 19 people, authorities said. The other person has not been found.
Nineteen bodies were recovered after the Chalk’s Ocean Airways propeller plane crashed around 2:30 p.m. after takeoff en route to Bimini in the Bahamas, Coast Guard officials said.
Roger Nair, general manager of Chalk’s Ocean Airways, said two crewmembers were aboard along with 18 passengers, including three infants.
Glenn Reynolds links to Rand Simberg’s look at impromptu rescue efforts organized by local boating enthusiasts:
I heard on the radio that when the plane went down off Miami Beach this afternoon, a flotilla of private boats were on it almost immediately to try to find survivors. It’s similar to what happened in 911, when a large number of people spontaneously evacuated lower Manhattan across the rivers to New Jersey and Brooklyn.
Unfortunately, this time, even as rapid as the response was, it looks like the people were beyond saving.
Glenn and Rand filed their posts under Glenn’s trademark “A Pack, Not A Herd” heading to highlight the independent rescue efforts. It’s also worth noting the caption under the photo on the NBC page:
Witness Photo
A witness sent this picture to NBC 6. The man said he snapped the photo with his cell phone right after the plane crashed into the water.
From photos to blog posts, more and more, we’re seeing both elements of reportage, and even whole articles, coming from citizen journalists, rather than the traditional media. But then again, if you’re reading this, you probably knew that already…
(Macabre bit of synchronicity: This past week, I was sent the DVD of the second season of Miami Vice to review for Blogcritics. I watched an episode Saturday with my wife and quipped, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Miami Vice, if you’re a bad guy who needs to skip town in a hurry, you always fly Chalk’s Seaplanes”. They featured prominently in several episodes, but I didn’t know until just now that they still flew.)
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