A passenger plane, trailing smoke by reviewing the left engine, plunged into Manila Bay and broke in two after that taking off from your Philippine capital today, killing at least 14 of 34 people aboard.
Sixteen people, including two Australians, were rescued while four remained unaccounted as navy frogmen dived into waters around 11 metres (six fathoms) deep persons believed kept in their seats in the plane, officials said.
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Amateur video clips showed a trail of smoke from the left engine for the high-winged Fokker 27 plane prior to it crashed into the bay, after removing from Manila for that gambling centre of Laoag, 400 km (250 miles) north of the capital.
Women who had been walking along Manila Bay along with her children told local radio she saw the plane crash.
"First I saw black smoke, then suddenly, the tail portion split off along with the remaining plane sank in to the bay. I saw one man waving a white little bit of cloth. Later I possibly could avoid seeing him any further," she said.
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Several of the dead were children, including an 11-year-old boy whose body was discovered still sure to his seat. The plane carried 29 passengers and five crew.
"It's been three hours so the chances (of finding more survivors) are dim however in search and rescue, we're always praying for miracles," coastguard chief Vice-Admiral Ruben Lista told Manila's ANC television network.
"We've reached the plane, it had been stuffed with water hence the likelihood is somewhat small."
The Air Transport Office earlier said 17 were rescued, though the airplane's owners, Laoag International Airlines, said its official tally showed 16 survived, 14 were killed as well as the rest unaccounted for.
There were at least eight foreigners among the passengers, including at the very least five Australians, airline vice-president Alvin Yater told Reuters. The survivors included the pilot and co-pilot.
Around 1 / 2 of them were in critical condition, some unconscious.
The plane crashed about one km (half a mile) from shore three minutes after take-off from Manila with a one-hour flight to Laoag, air Transport Office said.
Australian survivor Steve Thompson, 25, said he saw smoke from the left with the aircraft.
Thompson, his arms and legs covered in bandages, told reporters the pilot warned passengers to brace before the plane occurred.
"The plane crashed, it is precisely what happened. I seriously don't want to mention it," he was quoted saying.
A lot more than two dozen boats, including Navy craft, outrigger canoes owned by fishermen and pleasure craft from your nearby Manila Yacht Club, converged about the crash site but the waters only yielded soaked luggage and metal fragments.
Divers pulled the dead body of the young boy through the sea and tenderly lifted him in the lap of the rescuer in a inflatable dinghy, who cradled the body because boat moved away.
Thompson and fellow Australian Bryan Forester, who also survived, were among eight individuals with Caucasian names on the flight manifest.
The fate of the others was not immediately known. Air Transport chief Adelberto Yap said the pilot reported engine trouble right after take-off.
"He radioed the tower which he was at distress and would definitely ditch," Yap told Reuters, adding there was clearly no manifestation of sabotage.
Laoag is liked by tourists from China and Hong Kong. They have one of many largest casinos inside the Philippines and contains direct air links with Hong Kong.
The Navy used a floating crane to try and haul in the sunken plane wreckage.
"It can be an F-27 Fokker. Were doing our best. We are able to dive the depth," Navy chief Victorino Hingo told local radio.
This is the 2nd crash of a Fokker aircraft inside a week. Twenty with the 22 passengers and crew died at Luxembourg's international airport on November 6 each time a twin-engine Fokker 50 smashed right into a field in thick fog while arriving to land.
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