Three people are feared dead after a seaplane crashed off Rottnest Island on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities are expected to resume their search for the unaccounted passengers early Wednesday morning after four survivors were rescued from the wreckage around 4pm.
Footage of the crash shows the Swan River Seaplane-run Cessna 208 plane struggling to take off before swaying and nosediving into the ocean around 600 metres offshore.
Packed with summer visitors, people on the West Australian holiday island were in shock after many witnessed the crash and frantic rescue that followed, with several private boats rushing to the scene in the immediate aftermath.
Two women in their 40s and a third survivor remain in hospital with serious injuries on Wednesday morning, while a fourth person escaped uninjured. Three people remain unaccounted for.
Swan River Seaplanes run regular tourist flights between the mainland and island. Flight records show the Cessna plane had recently arrived in Western Australia from New South Wales, and had begun scenic flights on January 1.
Footage posted to Instagram by the flight operator showed 11 people queuing to board the doomed plane at the South Perth jetty on Tuesday morning.
“The latest addition to the @swanriverseaplanes fleet taxiing to the South Perth Jetty after a Perth City Scenic Flight,” photographer Kian Carmell wrote.
WA Police believe the plane hit Phillip Rock at the entrance of Thomson Bay and nosedived into the water.
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