Skydiving plane crash-lands in Australia, Victorian MP among 7 injured

Seven people, including a Victorian MP, were taken to hospital after a skydiving plane crash-landed after taking off from an airport in Australia on Friday, the Australian media reported.

Seventeen passengers and crew were aboard the light aircraft operated by Skydive Australia when it departed Barwon Heads Airport, about 100km south-west of Melbourne in Victoria state, at about 7.50am, according to The Age newspaper.

The aircraft had climbed to around 182m when passengers felt the plane lose power, 9News reported.

The pilot swerved over Lake Connewarre and made a forced landing near the water.

Videos on social media showed paramedics wheeling patients on stretchers into ambulances.

The police, emergency service workers and rescue helicopters were also seen at the site of the wreckage.

Among the seven taken to the hospital, four had serious injuries. The other 10 people escaped with no injuries. A man in his 30s, who suffered spinal, rib and back injuries, was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, the Australian Broadcast Corporation reported.

Victorian MP Paul Edbrooke was also taken to hospital but told Sky News that he is “otherwise fine and will be back to work in no time”.

Skydive Australia said the pilot’s training enabled him to execute a landing and that the company will work with the authorities to investigate the incident, 9News reported.

“When we hear of a plane crash, we always think the worst, particularly with 17 (people) on board, so I think this time we’ve been extremely lucky,” a spokesman for Ambulance Victoria told 9News.

In a separate incident, a pilot died after a light plane plunged into a field in Queensland on Thursday afternoon, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

A rescue helicopter was called to the scene but the pilot – the only person aboard the plane – died at the scene.