2025 Swan River Seaplanes Cessna 208 crash. On 7 January 2025, a Swan River Seaplanes Cessna 208 Caravan 675 seaplane with seven people onboard returning to its base in South Perth, Western Australia, 19 miles (30 kilometers) east of Rottnest Island crashed during takeoff from Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island, Western Australia. The plane impacted the water with its front section, and the pilot and two passengers were killed. Three other passengers survived with injuries and the one remaining passenger was uninjured.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a nine year old Cessna 208 Caravan 675 seaplane operated by Swan River Seaplanes. Prior to the accident, the aircraft crashed in 2016, injuring 11 people. The aircraft was ferried to Western Australia from the Australian east coast just seven days before the accident.

Passengers and crew
There were seven people on board the aircraft, six passengers and the pilot. The passengers were all tourists, two each from Switzerland, Denmark and Australia. The pilot was 34-year-old Australian James Wong. The three fatalities were the pilot and two tourists, one Swiss and one Danish.

Accident
The aircraft crashed on takeoff from Thomson Bay in Rottnest Island at around 4:00p.m. WAST. It was supposed to fly to South Perth. Videos of the accident show the aircraft struggling to gain altitude and banking to the left during takeoff and then hit the water nose-first with its left wing than submerging  deep. There are unconfirmed reports that the plane hit an underwater rock at the entrance of the bay during takeoff, causing the crash.

After the crash, the survivors were rescued, and the 3 injured people in the crash were flown to a Perth hospital. As of January 9, 2025, one of the injured victims was discharged from the hospital.

Investigation 
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) started an investigation on the accident to determine the cause and dispatched teams to the crash site. Rescue parties included civilian boats, police boats, rangers, helicopters and doctors from the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The wreckage of the seaplane, including a sizeable portion of the fuselage, engine and the cabin, were recovered from the ocean floor and were taken to a security facility in Perth for further investigation, and then transferred to a laboratory in Canberra. The investigators are also searching for electronic devices that were onboard the aircraft that could provide clues about the accident.

A preliminary report of the accident will be released in March 2025 by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Aftermath 
Swan River Seaplanes, the company operating the aircraft, said that they were "heartbroken" and "devastated" by the crash, and that they sent their condolences to the families of the victims. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese expressed his deep sorrow for the crash and also sent condolences, as did the Western Australian premier Roger Cook.

References

External links
 
 Flight route at FlightAware

2025 disasters in Australia
2020s in Western Australia
January 2025 in Australia
Aviation accidents and incidents in 2025
Aviation accidents and incidents in Western Australia
Accidents and incidents involving the Cessna 208 Caravan
Rottnest Island