Pilot, 4 U.S. tourists killed in Australia plane crash

Four American tourists and an Australian pilot were killed Tuesday when a small plane crashed into a shopping mall shortly after takeoff in the Australian city of Melbourne.

The pilot reported a “catastrophic engine failure” moments before the crash, police said.

The U.S. Embassy in Australia confirmed that four Americans were killed.

“The U.S. Embassy in Canberra and U.S. Consulate in Melbourne are working closely with local authorities. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance to the families of the victims,” an embassy statement said.

Greg Reynolds De Haven and Russell Munsch, both from Texas, were identified as victims by their families on social media.

Denelle Wicht, De Haven’s sister, posted on Facebook: "Dear friends and family, my handsome athletic big brother was killed today in a plane accident while on his 'once in a lifetime' trip to Australia." She said her brother, who was born in 1946, was flying to an island on a charter flight with two friends to play golf.

Max Quartermain, the owner of the charter company Corporate and Leisure Travel, was the pilot, the Associated Press reported.

Victoria's Premier, Daniel Andrews, said the crash was the state's worst aviation accident in 30 years, according to Sky News Australia.

"It falls to me to extend our sympathies, our best wishes, our prayers, to the families of those who have died," he said, according to the broadcaster.

"We are currently reaching out to their families to provide them with the support that they need to try to comfort them at what must be just such a horrible moment," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The twin-engine Beechcraft Super King Air had taken off from Melbourne’s second-biggest airport in the suburb of Essendon for a golfing trip to King Island, 160 miles southward in Tasmania, officials said.

It crashed into the Direct Factory Outlet mall that adjoins the airport about 45 minutes before the shopping center was supposed to open, Police Minister Lisa Neville said.

Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said it was fortunate nobody else was killed or injured.

“Looking at the fireball, it is incredibly lucky that no one was at the back of those stores or in the car park of the stores, that no one was even hurt,” Leane said, according to the AP.

Police and paramedics rushed to the crash site, where firefighters doused the flames.

Michael Howard, 29, told the ABC he saw a blue flash go past the shopping center's billboard before erupting into a "huge fireball."

"(I thought) what the hell? That doesn't happen every day. It was crazy, like something from a movie," he said.

Investigations are taking place into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara