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Light plane crashes in Australia, two killed

This screen grab taken from a video on January 26, 2017 shows a Grumman G-73 Mallard seaplane flying above the Swan River in Perth during Australia Day celebrations. (Photo by AFP)

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.


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