One reportedly dead in Middle Island plane crash, three others injured
One person is feared dead after a tourist aircraft carrying four passengers crashed in central Queensland today. The plane in question, Cessna 172, was carrying two male and two female passengers when it crashed near Agnes Water.
According to the Queensland Ambulance Service, a plane that was trailing the Cessna 172 witnessed it plummeting at about 10:40AM. The plane was operated by 1770 Castaway Fly-in Island Adventures. The passengers of the plane were transported to the hospital.
As reported by the ABC, one person has died in the crash. The news has not yet been confirmed by the police. One of the injured passengers was taken to Bundaberg Base Hospital. The other two were flown to Rockhampton.
The Brisbane Times reported the injured woman was treated for head and leg injuries. The two male passengers were treated for lacerations to the head and lower leg injuries.
Ambulance service spokeswoman Mindy Thomas said, "There were two planes. One was following the other and has seen the first go down. They have landed safely on the beach at Middle Island and have called 000. We had direct information from the scene at all times." She also said it would be “a number of hours before all patients are safely extricated, as well as all staff from [Queensland ambulance service]” and that it was “unknown at this stage what caused the plane to come down.”
One of the two rescue helicopters had arrived at the scene of the crash, Thomas added. These helicopters were flying from Bundaberg and Rockhampton.
According to a Central Queensland plane spotter's social media page, the aircraft made a "pan-pan" urgency call following which it was forced to make a landing. The plane, the blog said, had a broken wing.
The 1770 Castaway offers camping holidays to tourists. One of its popular attractions is flying to isolated beaches.