A pilot and four American passengers were killed just before 8am on Tuesday when a small plane crashed into the roof of a shopping mall after taking off from an airfield outside Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city.
The twin-turboprop Beechcraft King Air plane suffered an engine failure and crashed into the mall near the end of the runway at Essendon Airport, Victoria state police assistant commissioner Stephen Leane told reporters in Melbourne.
Witnesses told Australian Associated Press the plane exploded on impact.
“There were five people on the aeroplane and it looks like nobody’s survived the crash,” Leane said.
“All five occupants were male – the pilot was Australian and the four passengers were from the United States of America,” Victoria police said in later statement.
Sky News showed burning wreckage strewn across the mall’s car park and a thick column of black smoke rising from the crash site.
Before the crash, the plane was bound for King Island in Bass Strait between the mainland and the southern island state of Tasmania and Australian newspapers reported that at least two of the men were travelling to play golf on the island’s famed links.
The plane was piloted by its owner, Max Quartermain, who had four U.S. citizens on the flight heading to King Island in the Bass Strait off the southern coast of Australia.
The U.S. citizens were not identified however officials said they were in the process of contacting their families.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all those who died in today’s tragic crash,” a U.S. State Department official told NBC News.
“The U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Melbourne are working closely with local authorities. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance to the families of the victims.”
