Fast Facts: Miami Beach Crash

THE CRASH

— Occurred just off Miami Beach at about 2:30 p.m. Monday.

— Witnesses said the plane exploded in flames.

— Amateur video obtained by a cable new network showed the main part of the aircraft slamming into water.

— The video also showed flaming object trailing thick black smoke.

THE FLIGHT

— Carried two crew members and 18 passengers, including three infants.

— Took off at about 2:30 p.m. from Miami.

— Destination: the island of Bimini in the Bahamas.

SEARCH, RECOVERY, RESCUE, WRECKAGE

— Coast Guard said 19 bodies found.

— Scuba divers and rescuers in speedboats struggled to reach the victims,

— As evening fell, no sign that anyone survived.

— Main part of fuselage was submerged in about 35 feet of water.

— Coast Guardsmen and emergency workers wearing protective suits hauled bodies up from rescue boats.

— Law enforcement speedboats, divers and helicopters took part.

— Joined by others in private boats, on personal watercraft and on surfboards.

WITNESSES

— Sandy Rodriguez, 14: saw the plane flying low with white smoke trailing from it and flames coming from the bottom.

— Rodriguez says right wing fell off as the plane went down.

— Surfer Maurice D'Giovianna: "It exploded in the air and one of the wings flew out of there."

— D'Giovianni said: "The other part of the plane was on fire and it just went straight down."

— Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr saw the crash.

—Warr: "Everything looked normal, I saw the aircraft take off like it does every other times.

—Warr: "I didn't think anything of it when I saw the black smoke from the pier, until I then heard the Coast Guard alarms go off."

THE PLANE

— Propeller-driven seaplane.

— Twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard.

— Built in 1947.

— FAA records show plane registered to Seaplane Adventures LLC in Greenwich, Conn.

— Clean safety record with no reported incidents for more than 21 years.

— Engines converted from older piston-driven models to turboprops.

— Company says there were upgrades in avionics.

INVESTIGATION

— The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate.

— FBI sent agents to assist in the investigation if needed.

— FBI says no immediate indication of terrorism or sabotage.

— Federal security official says airline not required to conduct federal security screening of passengers and their luggage.

— Weather: The skies were cloudy, but there was no rain or lightning.

THE AIRLINE

— Plane operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways plane.

— Chalk's Ocean Airways flies between Miami and the Bahamas.

— Uses planes that take off and land on the water.

— Chalk's aircraft have been featured in TV shows such as "Miami Vice."

— Founded by Arthur "Pappy" Chalk in 1919.

— Airline thrived during Prohibition, taking bootleggers, their customers and customs agents to Bimini.

— Airline says most famous regular passenger was Ernest Hemingway who flew to Bimini to go big-game fishing.

— One of its planes was hijacked to Cuba in 1974.

— The company has since had a policy of not carrying enough fuel to get to Havana.

— Past owners have included Resorts International, Donald Trump and Merv Griffin.

— Owner as of 1995 was Seth Atwood of United Capital Corporation of Illinois/Atwood Enterprises.

— Chalk's Website says it operates 17-passenger Turbine Mallards.

— Website says it was in the midst of an "extensive refurbishment" of its airline fleet.

— Company says it was the airline's first accident with a passenger fatality.

— NTSB database indicates no deadly accidents involving passengers for Chalk's since 1982, when the database began.

— Chalk's only crash involving fatalities happened in 1994, when two pilots died in a crash of their seaplane near Key West.