SYDNEY, 21 February (BelTA - Xinhua) - The Australian Authorities have confirmed that five people are dead after a charter plane crashed into a popular Melbourne shopping center on Tuesday morning.
Witnesses who saw the charter plane crash described a "massive fireball" erupt from a warehouse of the Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) shopping center in Essendon after the plane plunged into it at speed.
The plane left Essendon airport in Melbourne's inner-northern suburbs, at around 09 00 a.m. local time on Tuesday and was heading for King Island, a popular golf destination off Tasmania's north-west coast.
Shortly after take-off, the pilot who has been identified as 63-year old Max Quartermain issued a mayday call for what Victoria Police Superintendent Mick Frewen said was "catastrophic engine failure".
Quartermain, who co-owned the company that chartered the flight with his wife Cilia, attempted to turn the plane around and land back at Essendon airport but instead flew straight into the DFO, which sits on a major freeway.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said the tragedy could have been much worse if the shopping center was open at the time of the crash.
