‘Experienced’ Pilot Among 3 People Killed After Plane Nose Dived Into the Ocean: ‘Spiraled Out of Control’

NEED TO KNOW

• All three people on a light plane were killed when the aircraft crashed off the coast of Goolwa, Australia, on Friday, Feb. 6

• Witness footage shared online shows the small plane plunging into the ocean at Long Bay in Adelaide, in front of beachgoers

• “This was a tragic day for three families, and the wider aviation community,” said ATSB Acting Chief Commissioner Colin McNamara

Three men have died after a plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of Goolwa, Australia.

At around 4:20 p.m. local time on Friday, Feb. 6, the South Australia Police (SAPOL) received reports of a small plane carrying three people on board “crashing into the ocean” at Long Bay in Adelaide, SAPOL confirmed in a news release.

“Police and emergency services responded immediately,” said the SAPOL. “Sadly, all three men on board, including the pilot, a 53-year-old Morphett Vale man, and an 18-year-old Freeling man and a 20-year-old Pasadena man, were subsequently located deceased.”

“The wreckage was brought to shore,” the police added. “Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators are attending the scene today and investigations into the crash are continuing.”

Footage shared online by witnesses shows the small plane nosediving before plunging into the sea.

According the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the police entered the waters in search of the victims following the crash. A helicopter was then called to the area at around 2.30 a.m. the next morning.

The victims have since been identified as 53-year-old pilot, Leo Howard, 18-year-old Tristan Scheffer, and a 20-year-old unnamed man, 7News Australia and ABC reported.

Howard was a pilot at the flight school Goolwa Air, in Goolwa, Australia, according to the company’s Instagram page.

His family said in a statement to ABC following his death, “Leo was a highly respected and experienced pilot. He was a loved family man, son, father and brother. We are devastated at this time and send our condolences to the other families involved.”

Scheffers had recently graduated from high school and was training to be a commercial pilot, per 7News Australia. His dad described him as a “beautiful boy who loved flying more than anything else,” in a statement to the outlet.

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Witness Sam Rohloff, who was fishing near the crash site, said that the plane “spiraled out of control” before crashing into the water.

“We thought, you know, how they spiral and usually pull back up, but this thing was coming down pretty hard, it just spiraled out of control and smashed straight into the water,” he told ABC. “… It was pretty much like an explosion, massive waves everywhere.”

ATSB Acting Chief Commissioner Colin McNamara said in a statement that investigators are examining the recovered aircraft wreckage, analyzing flight tracking data as well as maintenance records following the crash.

“This was a tragic day for three families, and the wider aviation community, and on behalf of the ATSB, I express our deepest condolences to the families and friends who have lost loved ones,” said McNamara.

He continued, “Over [the] coming days, investigators will also interview witnesses and involved parties, and obtain any available flight track data and aircraft and maintenance records. Any aircraft components of interest will also be recovered to our Canberra technical facilities for further examination.

“Crucially, we are aware there are a number of video recordings of the accident sequence, some of which have been shown in [the] media. That footage captured the aircraft rolling to the left in a very steep nose-down trajectory a couple of hundred meters offshore,” McNamara added.

“Analysis of those video recordings will be instrumental to the investigation, and we do ask that anyone with video footage of the aircraft at any stage of its flight, and of the accident sequence, to make contact with the ATSB via the witness form on our website at their earliest opportunity,” he concluded.

A coroner’s report is being carried out following the incident, while the ATSB also aims to publish a preliminary report in about eight weeks.

PEOPLE has contacted SAPOL and Goolwa Air for further comment.

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