The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft BE65, crashed under unknown circumstances while taking off from Dillingham Airfield on Oahu’s North Shore about 6:30 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane was destroyed by the fire, according to the agency.
“In my 40 years as a firefighter here in Hawaii, this is the most tragic aircraft incident that we’ve had,” Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manny Neves said at a news conference Friday night. “We had some helicopters with the military, but this is a civilian plane that went down.”
He added: “There is nothing left of the plane.”
Authorities have identified the sky diving company but have not released its name, or the names of the victims killed in the crash. It was unclear how many of those on board were passengers.
No one at the airfield was available to comment Saturday. Neves said the cause of the crash was unknown.
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate, agency spokesman Eric Weiss said.