Plane crash in northeastern Brazil kills 16

A regional airliner has crashed in northeastern Brazil, killing all 16 people on board.

The pilot had tried to make an emergency landing in a vacant lot near a beach on the outskirts of the city of Recife five minutes after taking off, the AP reports. Witnesses said the Noar Airlines aircraft went down hard then burst into flames.

"I saw a woman in a window [of the plane] asking for help and it just exploded," witness Erandir Rodrigues da Silva told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. "There was nothing to be done."

The crew of the twin-turboprop aircraft reported problems shortly after taking off for Natal around 7 a.m., the AP reports