US: Seaplane crashed after its right wing fell off

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, US federal investigators said today.

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