A seaplane has crashed on takeoff from an Australian holiday island, killing three people, including European tourists, and injuring three others, police said today.
Only one of seven people on board a Cessna 208 Caravan owned by Swan River Seaplanes was rescued unharmed after the crash on Tuesday afternoon on Rottnest Island, police said.
The plane had taken off to return to base in Perth, the capital of Western Australia state, 30 kilometers east of Rottnest Island, which is also known by its indigenous name of Wadjemup.
The victims were a 65-year-old Swiss woman, a 60-year-old Danish man and the 34-year-old pilot from Perth, Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said.
Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said none of the survivors had suffered serious injuries and the three injured were taken to a Perth hospital.
Cook said the cause of the crash was not yet known.
Reports that the plane had hit a rock at the entrance to a bay on the western side of the island could not be confirmed by video footage collected so far, the regional premier added.
Rottnest Island is known for its beaches and the presence of cat-sized marsupials, quokkas, which are rare on the Australian mainland.
Tourist accommodation on the island is usually full during the current southern hemisphere summer months.
“It is deeply disturbing that something so tragic could happen in front of so many people, in a place that brings so much joy, especially at this time of year,” Cook added.
Blanch said police divers recovered the bodies on Tuesday night from a depth of eight metres. Debris from the plane was still being recovered.
Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau, which is investigating the crash, said it had sent experts to the scene.
“During take-off the seaplane struck the water before becoming partially submerged,” the department’s chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, said in a statement.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the crash as “terrible news”.
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