On Sunday, a light plane crashed into the water off the coast of Queensland, Australia, killing four persons, two of whom were children. According to authorities, the four-seater Rockwell crashed off the end of a runway at Redcliffe, around 20 miles (32 kilometres) northeast of Brisbane.
Divers retrieved the bodies of two persons, including the 69-year-old male pilot, and two children from the upturned wreckage along the shoreline, according to media. According to White, the children’s ages were not immediately accessible, but they were younger than teenagers.
ATSB looking into the incident
The cause of the four-seater plane’s accident is being probed as soon as it took off about 9 a.m. from Redcliffe airstrip, north of Brisbane. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, said his department is looking into the matter. According to early reports, the catastrophe occurred shortly after takeoff.
According to Queensland Police Inspector Craig White, members of the pilot’s family were at the Redcliffe airport at the time of the incident, as reported by media. According to White, the families found out what had happened when the plane did not return and they read posts on social media.
Plane seen floating upside down
The jet was seen floating upside down in the wake of the catastrophe while water police and forensic divers worked on the scene. He requested anyone with information or who witnessed the incident to contact Queensland Police or the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The ATSB was working to recover the wreckage, but Mitchell said it was difficult to get a barge in since the tide had gone out.
Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll said early on Sunday that police and divers were faced with a difficult situation. The incident occurred near Redcliffe Airport, however it is unknown how long the plane was in the air or what caused it to crash. According to accounts, the plane’s pilot was not a member of the Redcliffe Aero Club.
