Another Aviation Disaster: Small Cessna Jet Crashes in Brisbane, Kills 4 Skydivers & Pilot
The global aviation industry and governments have yet to resolve the mystery of the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 when another air tragedy occurred on Saturday.
Courier Mail reported that the Cessna 206 crashed at Caboolture Airport at about 11:30 am and burst into flames at the airfield north of Brisbane, Queensland. The air mishap killed all five people aboard the small jet, namely the male pilot, two male skydiving instructors and a male and female skydiver.
The ill-fated aircraft is owned by a skydiving company in Bribie Island.
According to Superintendent Michael Brady, the Cessna crashed during takeoff, hitting the ground at the end of the runway. He said the cause of the accident is still unknown, but the impact of the crash was so strong that people inside the aircraft would not survive it.
Family members of the people aboard the jet were nearby, but it is not sure if they witnessed the mishap.
But there are other witnesses, such as Craig McKinlay who was just 400 metres from the accident site. He recalled hearing a loud explosion and upon turning around to find the source of the noise, he saw a huge red black fireball.
Mr McKinlay added that the Cessna was scattered, with the middle part flattened and burnt, but the engine was left standing. The jet's panels were thrown 10 metres from the wreckage.
Another witness was Craig Thomas who was skydiving then, about 500 metres away in the air so he couldn't tell initially if it was a plane or a chopper that was burning.
The Air Transport Safety Bureau, police and forensic crash investigators are still investigating the accident. The Caboolture Airport will remain close until Sunday.