Melbourne: A light aircraft smashed into shops and exploded into a “massive fireball” killing all five on board, including four American passengers reportedly golfers on the trip of a lifetime, officials in Australia said on Tuesday.
The twin-engined Beechcraft plane veered just after take-off into a shopping centre, that was still closed, next to Essendon Fields airport near Melbourne.
Premier Daniel Andrews described it as “the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years”.
Live television footage showed burned out wreckage, flames and major damage at the shopping centre and adjacent buildings.
The private charter from Essendon, north of Melbourne, came down just short of a major motorway packed with the heavy traffic of early morning commuters. The pilot tried to return to Essendon but crashed.
The centre was not due to open for another hour and the authorities confirmed no one inside was hurt. A column of thick black smoke rose into the air as witnesses spoke of an explosion. A taxi driver called ABC radio and told of the “massive fireball” and a landing wheel bouncing onto the motorway.
