Major Wilmer Guerrero of the country’s fire department told reporters 10 people were retrieved from the site of the crash, six of whom were pronounced dead at the hospital.
A crew member’s body was then found floating in the sea near the plane, which crashed about a kilometre from the coast.
Officials gave conflicting reports on the number of people on board the plane — either 17 or 18.
Guerrero said one of the passengers, a 40-year-old French citizen, would be transferred to a hospital in the city of San Pedro Sula on the mainland.
The Lanhsa airlines plane took off at nightfall from Roatan, one of the Bay Islands, and one of Honduras’ main tourist destinations, heading for the port of La Ceiba, on the mainland.
“The plane almost fell on us. I was fishing,” a fisherman told reporters.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said she had “immediately activated” an emergency committee made up of the armed forces, firefighters, and others to assist the victims.
The crash was caused by an “apparent mechanical failure” on the British-made Jetstream 41, police said in a statement. (AFP)
