On January 7, 2025, Swan River Seaplanes’ Cessna 208 Caravan crashed at Thomson Bay in Western Australia.
The plane crashed during takeoff while operating a charter flight (not a scheduled passenger service). Seven people were onboard, including the pilot.
Three persons were killed in the event, including the pilot and two passengers, while three others were seriously injured. The incident occurred about 4:00 PM local time and left one passenger uninjured.
Witnesses reported that the aircraft struggled to gain altitude after takeoff, and the plane’s left wingtip eventually touched the water, resulting in a nose dive.
The horrifying accident was captured on camera, with the plane banking to the left before colliding with the sea. The aircraft’s wreckage is currently located around eight meters beneath the surface of the sea, and rescue workers have been on the scene all day.
A sophisticated rescue and investigation effort took conducted and is still underway.
Rescue efforts on Tuesday required substantial coordination between multiple parties, including private watercraft, police boats, rangers, and aircraft.
Doctors from the Royal Flying Doctor Service were among the first to arrive at the crash site, and they quickly flew injured passengers to hospitals in nearby Perth, where three were admitted in serious but stable condition, with one already discharged.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is presently conducting the thorough investigation and has already despatched teams from Perth, Brisbane, and Canberra to the collision scene.
These investigators will seek to ascertain the cause of the tragedy by examining everything from the debris to the weather conditions at the time.
According to ABC News Australia, they will also thoroughly analyze flight tracking and maintenance data, as well as conduct interviews with on-scene witnesses.
A horrific crash aroused many questions.
Those who were present when the disaster occurred characterized it as shocking, and numerous witnesses remarked how the airplane totally turned over after making contact with the sea.
Others observed how quickly boats in the region were able to respond to the passengers’ plight, despite the severe winds and possibly dangerous currents.
Swan River Seaplanes, a firm that had recently bought this aircraft, stated that it had been purchased from a Queensland-based tourism operator who used it for beautiful flights around Rottnest Island. The model, registered VH-WTY, was produced in 2016, according to Aviation Safety Network reports.
The tragedy on Tuesday is not the first in recent memory involving Swan River Seaplanes. In 2020, Troy Thomas, the company’s founder, died in a helicopter crash in Western Australia.
The aircraft, intended as a seaplane and hence naturally buoyant, sank slowly, allowing survivors to escape the wreckage.
It is now unclear what caused the aircraft to fail to acquire altitude, however further study by the ATSB should throw light on this incident. This is not the only deadly Cessna Caravan crash in recent weeks. In December, a similar occurrence resulted in two fatalities in Hawaii.