Cracks found in wing of beach crash seaplane

THE wing that fell off a seaplane before it crashed, killing all 20 people on board, had cracks in the main support beam that had probably gone unseen for a long time, federal investigators said yesterday.

Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), stopped short of saying the cracking was the sole reason the right wing fell off the 58-year-old plane on Monday shortly after it took from Miami for the Bahamas.

But Mr Rosenker told a news conference that the cracking should have been found and repaired, although it would have taken “a very serious” inspection to find it.