AUSTRALIAN air accident investigators today probed a helicopter crash that killed five people in remote, densely wooded bushland at Mount Disappointment in the eastern state of Victoria.

The privately chartered helicopter went missing yesterday morning but police were unable to reach the rugged accident site until hours later, only publicly confirming in the evening that all five aboard had been killed.

Television images showed police officers winching down from a helicopter into an area of tall trees at the crash site, about 60km of Melbourne.

Victorian state police said four men and a woman were killed. The pilot, reportedly a 32-year-old man, was among the dead.

Australian media said the passengers were on a work-related trip.

“Our team is en route to the accident site this morning,” an Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said today.

Investigators planned to examine the wreckage and the surrounding area, analyse recorded data and conduct interviews, the bureau said. A preliminary crash report was expected in six to eight weeks.

The Victoria-based helicopter charter company, Microflite, said it was “shocked and devastated” by the deaths of the passengers and “one of our highly respected pilots”. It suspended all flights until at least April 5. – AFP, April 1, 2022.