Crash at Malta Airport Kills Five, Covers Runway in Large Fireball

Five people died after their airplane crashed during takeoff from the Mediterranean archipelago of Malta early Monday, officials said.

A fireball belched black smoke from the runway of Malta International Airport and all departures and arrivals were cancelled until further notice.
The airport said in a statement that the crashed plane was a Fairchild Metroliner, a small, twin-propeller aircraft, and that five people had died in the incident.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the people involved in the accident today," it said.

Edward De Gaetano, an actor from London, was on board another plane about to take off when he saw a "massive explosion and another explosion" outside his window.
"Once we found out a plane had crashed next to us, the panic started



really to set in," said De Gaetano, who had been on the island with his girlfriend for a friend's wedding. "We couldn't do anything, everyone tried to be as calm as possible. We had to stay put."

He spoke with NBC News from the departure lounge after his plane was taken back to the terminal.

An investigation has been launched into the causes of the crash, although it was not immediately clear who operated the small aircraft.

Reuters initially cited airport sources saying that European border officials were on board. But Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, tweeted that the plane was not theirs.
Federica Mogherini, the E.U. foreign affairs chief, said the plane was "not related to any ... E.U. activities" and that there was no European officials on board.