Heartbreak as plane crash claims four lives
Four people have died after a light plane crashed to the north of Brisbane over the weekend.
A man and his two children were believed to be on a “family joy flight” when the aircraft crashed into the water and overturned at around 9 am local time on Sunday.
The 41-year-old, his ten-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son died in the crash, along with the 67-year-old pilot, later identified as Brisbane man Robert Watterson.
Tragically, it is understood that Mr Watterson’s family were at the aerodrome as part of a pre-Christmas family outing, with the Courier Mail reporting that they became concerned when the plane didn’t return on-time.
The pilot has been identified as Robert ‘Roy’ Watterson. Image: Facebook
His family were officially notified of the crash on Sunday, with police believing he wasn’t related to the other passengers.
“The families became aware when they knew the aircraft hadn’t returned on site and they began looking at social media posts,” Inspector Craig White said.
“The family are deeply traumatised, as you can expect.”
Speaking to the media on Sunday afternoon, Inspector White said the aircraft was seen to disappear behind two mangroves.
It was spotted by another plane shortly after, and the four bodies were recovered by police at 12pm.
Angus Mitchell, the chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), said aircraft operations and maintenance teams would be arriving at the scene from Brisbane and Canberra to determine the nature of the crash.
Queensland Police also confirmed that the investigation would involve multiple agencies.
“A multi-agency operation is underway with Queensland Water Police officers and divers along with the Forensic Crash Unit assisting other agencies, including the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, as investigations continue,” a statement read.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told the media on Monday that the investigation was made more difficult as the plane was in a location that was hard for rescuers to reach.
“The plane is in a very, very difficult position in the wetland area and we currently have police and divers travelling to that area,” she said.
Boats from the Coast Guard, ATSB and police flocked to the crash site - which is close to RedCliffe Airport - to help rescue the passengers. However, a Queensland Police spokeswoman told news.com.au that a specialist diver was needed to get inside the aircraft.
Though the plane crashed nearby to the airport, it is not yet known how long the plane was in the air before it crashed, or what caused the incident.
Image: 7NEWS