Two people have died in an incident involving an old, light plane crashing during an air show in Australia’s west.
Thousands of horrified spectators watched on Thursday as a Grumman G-73 “Mallard” flying boat nosedived into Swan River in Western Australia’s state capital, Perth.
The plane, built in 1948, was a twin-engine, light aircraft made for both land and water.
The pilot and co-pilot, the sole passengers on the light plane, died in the incident.
“I was actually standing on the Perth foreshore doing a live cross to one of the TV channels when the tragic events unfolded in the sky above me,” acting-commissioner of Western Australia Police, Stephen Brown, told media on Friday.
“It (the plane) clearly had broken at least in two significant parts, and was sinking very quickly,” he said.
A police investigation was underway to determine the exact cause of the crash, according to Brown.
One eyewitness noticed the plane losing thrust before the crash.