Two US nationals among 20 dead in Tahiti-bound plane crash

PAPEETE  (AFP) - Two Americans are among the 20 people feared dead after a plane bound for Tahiti plunged into the sea shortly after take-off from a nearby island, officials in French Polynesia said.

So far 16 bodies have been recovered from the Twin Otter turboprop aircraft and rescuers are continuing to search for the rest, according to officials in Papeete.

Of the 19 passengers, five were foreign -- three tourists and two European Union officials, officials said earlier.

Witnesses said they saw the Air Moorea plane ploughing into the waves just after it took off from Moorea's Tamae airport for the 17-kilometre (10-mile) flight to the nearby South Pacific island of Tahiti.