Fiery Melbourne plane crash kills four US tourists, pilot

MELBOURNE: Five people have died in a fiery charter plane crash into a Melbourne retail outlet, the worst civil aviation accident in Victoria in 30 years.

The five — believed to be an Australian pilot and four United States tourists heading to play golf on King Island — were on the plane when it appeared to suffer catastrophic engine failure moments after taking off from Essendon Airport yesterday morning.

The Beechcraft Super King Air twinengine aircraft had issued a mayday before smashing into the Direct Factory Outlets in Essendon about 9am, an hour before opening time.

Although staff were preparing to open stores, noone else was injured by the debris that scattered widely on to nearby freeways, or when the fireball that engulfed the plane burned through the stores and out into a car park.

Noone on the plane survived the crash and intense fire.

The plane, owned by Myjet, had been hired by Corporate and Leisure Travel, a company owned by Max Quartermain, who is believed to have been the pilot.

CEO of Australian Corporate Jets Bas Nikolovski said Quartermain was an experienced pilot.

The US embassy was unable to confirm any details about the identities or nationalities of the victims but extended its deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.

Essendon Airport was closed, the DFO building is being investigated for structural flaws and the freeways around the crash site were partly closed due to debris from the crash.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has taken over the investigation.

It was the worst aviation crash in Victoria since 1978 when a light plane crashed into an Airport West home, killing six people. — AAP