Air Moorea Flight 1121
Air Moorea Flight 1121 was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter which crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Moorea Airport on Moorea Island in French Polynesia on 9 August 2007, killing all 20 people on board.
F-OIQI, the aircraft involved in the crash, pictured in March 2007 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 9 August 2007 |
| Summary | Loss of control due to deterioration and vertical stabilizer failure |
| Site | 1.5 km (0.9 mi; 0.8 nmi) off Moorea-Temae Airport (MOZ), French Polynesia 17°30′6″S 149°44′46″W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Operator | Air Moorea |
| IATA flight No. | QE1121 |
| Registration | F-OIQI |
| Flight origin | Moorea-Temae Airport (MOZ/NTTM), French Polynesia |
| Destination | Papeete-Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT/NTAA) |
| Passengers | 19 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 20 |
| Survivors | 0 |
It was bound for Tahiti's Fa'a'ā International Airport on a regular 7-minute service, one of the shortest on earth, scheduled 40 times a day. The crash resulted from loss of control due to failure of the airplane's elevator cable. Frequent takeoff and landing are believed to have been a major factor in the crash, because of wear and tear on the elevator cables, inspected only at fixed time intervals, regardless of usage. Another factor may have been jet-blast from large planes pushing back from the ramp at Fa'a'ā International.