Six people died in the New Year’s Eve crash of a De Havilland Beaver seaplane in Australia. The aircraft, operated by Sydney Seaplanes, was being used to shuttle passengers to a waterside restaurant and crashed on the Hawkesbury River, just north of Sydney, about 3:10 p.m. In addition to the pilot there were reportedly at least four U.K. residents and an 11-year-old boy on board. All the bodies were recovered from the aircraft, which sank in 40 feet of water.
Witness Myles Baptiste told a television station that the accident occurred as the Beaver was setting up to land. “It made a tight right-hand turn and as it actually turned around, the wings dipped and it nosedived straight into the water,” he said. It was cloudy and windy at the time and there was one report that the aircraft may have hit trees. The company said it was the first accident involving one of its aircraft in 22 years.
