9 killed in aircraft crash in Hawaii

A twin-engine skydiving aircraft crashed Friday evening near an airfield on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, killing all nine passengers on board, local authorities confirmed.

"With extreme sadness HDOT reports there were 9 souls on board the King Air twin engine plane that went down near Dillingham Airfield with no apparent survivors," the Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted.

Local Hawaii News Now website reported that Honolulu Fire Department received the first call of the downed craft at about 6:30 p.m. local time (0830 GMT) and when firefighters arrived, they found the wreckage of the craft fully engulfed in flames.

Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokeswoman Shayne Enright was quoted as saying that all nine passengers on the aircraft were pronounced dead at the scene.

The plane crashed on North Shore in Oahu, part of the Hawaiian island chain and home to the state capital, Honolulu.

Dillingham Airfield, 56 km northwest of downtown Honolulu, is a general aviation airport operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation under a 25-year lease from the U.S. Army.

It is not clear so far whether the craft was taking off or landing when it crashed.