Sea plane collides with small fishing boat while taking off in USA, one killed

A sea plane that was trying to take off collided with a small private fishing boat on a bayou, killing a man in the boat.

Photo: Sea plane collides with small fishing boat while taking off in USA, one killed

Sea plane collides with small fishing boat while taking off in USA, one killed

Authorities do not believe the plane, operated by oil company Chevron Corp., became airborne before the wreck Thursday. It sank to the bottom of a shallow part of Bayou Lafourche, with part of it remaining above the surface.

Three people in the plane were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Lafourche Parish sheriff's spokesman Larry Weidel said.

The man who died was believed to be the only person on the 18-foot boat.

Alex Yelland, a Chevron spokesman based in San Ramon, California, confirmed that a company-operated plane was involved in the accident. The three people aboard the plane all were Chevron employees, he said.

The area where the crash occurred, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of New Orleans, is laced with crisscrossing navigational canals, Weidel said, but he could not recall similar accidents in recent years. The area is a staging ground for companies serving oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.