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Weather hampers Vic plane wreck recovery

Wreckage from a plane that crashed off the Victorian coast, killing four people, has been found but poor weather means divers have not yet reached it.

Poor weather has prevented police divers from reaching the sea floor where wreckage has been found from a plane that crashed into Bass Strait six days ago, killing four people.

Sophisticated sonar equipment helped Victorian police find the engine block, a propeller and part of the fuselage of the downed Piper Cherokee on Wednesday.

The four people were killed when the plane went down in bad weather on Friday during a flight between Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport and King Island in Tasmania.

Three bodies were recovered on the day.

It's thought the body of the fourth victim remains inside the fuselage.

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The wreckage was found about 4km offshore between Barwon Heads and Point Lonsdale.

"Water police and search and rescue are waiting for weather to clear at Barwon Heads so they can continue operations to recover wreckage," a Victoria Police spokesman told AAP on Thursday.

"A dive support vessel is expected to arrive at Barwon Heads tomorrow. No further human remains have been located."

The crash victims' names have not been released but it's believed Daniel Flinn, 55, Donald Hateley, 68, and Ian Chamberlain and his partner Dianne Bradley, both aged in their 60s, died in the crash.

Wreckage has washed up on the shore but police believe the fuselage is about 30 metres down.

The three men were all licensed private pilots, but it's not clear who was flying.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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