An Irishman was one of five people killed on a skydiving flight in Australia when their light plane crashed into a dam and sank shortly after takeoff in the northern state of Queensland, the department of Foreign Affairs confirmed today.
The man is believed to be 34 years old and from Co Kildare.
A spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Department said: "We are aware a young Irish man was killed in an air accident in Australia. The Embassy in Canberra is offering the family assistance."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Queensland police said the pilot survived the crash, as well as a women passenger.
Police said the crash happened shortly after the Cessna 206 aircraft took off near Ipswich, west of the Queensland capital of Brisbane. Witnesses said the plane clipped a tree as it struggled to gain altitude.
"The aircraft seemed to develop trouble trying to gain some height," Queensland Police Inspector Noel Powers told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The crash is Australia 's worst plane disaster since 15 people were killed when their Metroliner aircraft crashed into a hillside in far north Queensland on May 7, 2005.