9 people killed in small airplane crash in Chile

A two-engine airplane crashed shortly after takeoff in a southern Chilean city on Thursday, killing all nine people aboard, including a small boy.

The Beechcraft 99A went down about half a mile (one kilometer) from a residential area, said Sergio Galilea, Governor of Los Lagos region.

Local witnesses said that the plane was in flames as it plunged to the ground in rainy weather. There were no casualties on the ground, Galilea said.

Victims aboard the plane, operated by regional airline Aerocord, were local residents, including a boy about age 3, aviation official Francisco Rogel said.

The plane had just departed for Melinka island, 190 miles (300 kilometers) south of Puerto Montt.

The crash was the second in the region in eight days. On July 2, three air force officers were killed when their Twin Otter plane crashed after touching some power lines during an instruction flight.