Source Yahoo
R&B singer and actress Aaliyah died Saturday along with seven others when a small plane that was to carry them back to the United States crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas, authorities said.
The 22-year-old artist was among nine on board the twin-engine Cessna and had come to the Bahamas to shoot a music video, officials said. One critically injured survivor was flown to Florida for treatment, authorities said.
``We find it devastating and most unfortunate that after having this world-famous star Aaliyah and her crew select the Bahamas as their choice location for her latest video, the project has climaxed on such a tragic note,‘’ said Minister of Tourism Tommy Turnquest, who happened to be visiting Abaco Island, where the plane went down.
Aaliyah, of Detroit, was to begin shooting the video for ``Rock The Boat’’ this month in Miami, according to her Web site. It was not clear whether she filmed that video while in the Bahamas.
The singer was born Aaliyah Haughton on January 16, 1979 in New York. She began performing at the young age of 11 when she sang on stage with Gladys Knight’s troupe in Las Vegas. Her first album, ``Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number,‘’ came out when she was 15 years old. She has collaborated with R&B singer R. Kelly, who produced her debut album and wrote many of the songs that appeared on it.
By age 18, Aaliyah had two hit records to her name.
Aaliyah’s song Try Again'' earned her a Grammy nomination this year for best female R&B vocalist. She made her feature acting debut in the film Romeo Must Die.‘’ She also had signed on to appear in two sequels to the high-tech thriller ``The Matrix.‘’
She was like one of my daughters, she was one of the sweetest girls in the world,'' said Grammy-winning producer, arranger and composer Quincy Jones. She vacationed with me and my family together in Fiji. I loved her and respected her and I am absolutely devastated.‘’
Bahamian police Superintendent Basil Rahming said the other passengers killed included Scott Gallin, 41; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, a representative for Virgin Records, and Eric Foreman, 29, both of Hollywood, Calif.; Gina Smith, 29, of New Jersey; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New York. The plane’s pilot, identified only as L. Marael, also died.
The survivor was identified by police as Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles.
The private plane was leaving the Marsh Harbour airport on a trip to Opa-locka, Fla. when it went down Saturday evening, said police spokesman Marvin Dames. Marsh Harbour is located about 100 miles north of Nassau.
After the crash, the mangled twin-engine plane rested about 75 yards from the end of the runway in a marshy area. Workers carried away badly burned bodies and laid them nearby. Pieces of the plane were strewn about the crash site.
Abaco Island Chief Councilor Silbert Mills said those killed included two women and six men. He said he happened to be at the airport and saw the plane taxi out. The next thing he knew, the plane was on the ground. He said he helped rescue the injured.
I pulled one from the aircraft, and he was screaming,'' Mills said. He said he was in a lot of pain.‘’
The cause of the crash was unclear. Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) in Atlanta, said the plane was a Cessna 402 owned by Skystream, a company based in Pembroke Pines, Fla. She said the plane crashed at the end of the airport’s runway at 6:50 p.m.
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