LAST week Sunday's plane crash, which claimed the life of Jamaican Annya Duncan at the V C Bird International Airport in Antigua, was caused by water in the engine's fuel line, an airline official confirmed yesterday.

"Yes, there was contamination of the fuel line," said Dwayne Lovett, a director of FlyMontserrat whose Britten-Norman Islander plane crashed shortly after take-off in bad weather, killing Duncan, the pilot and one other passenger.

A fourth person on the nine-seater plane survived.

Lovett told the Jamaica Observer he did not have more details about the crash but said the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority, assisted by the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, was continuing its investigations.

Montserrat, where Duncan taught integrated science for the past two years, is a British territory. She had gone to Antigua to do a CT Scan and was on her way back when the plane crashed.

Lovett said the airline was in touch with the families of the deceased to see how it could best meet their needs. "It's a horrible time and everybody is hurting," he told the Observer.

Coswell Duncan, father of Annya Duncan, has been in St John's — the Antiguan capital — since Thursday where he identified his daughter's body.

"It was an awful time. I could hardly recognise my daughter, but for a ring that she wore on her toe," said Duncan.

He said he was consoled by attending the Central Baptist Church on Sunday. He was asked to speak about the tragedy and he did a song Rise Again in memory of his daughter.

"It was a very touching service and many people in the congregation cried openly," said Duncan.

He also disclosed that Jamaican attorney Bert Samuels, head of litigation at Knight Junor & Samuels, was representing the family in the matter.

Samuels confirmed that he has conduct of the matter and said the firm was now preparing a claim that would be served on the airline once the post-mortem was completed.

Duncan said he, too, was awaiting the post-mortem. He added that he would be heading for Montserrat shortly to claim his daughter's possessions.