Five confirmed dead in tragic Mt Disappointment helicopter crash

Five people have been confirmed dead in a horrific helicopter crash at Mt Disappointment, 60 kilometres north of Melbourne.

Police confirmed the deaths just before 8pm on Thursday after searching dense bushland for almost 12 hours.

The pilot, a 32-year-old Cheltenham man, and four passengers — a 50-year-old woman from Inverloch, a 73-year-old man from Albert Park and two NSW men, aged 59 and 70 — have died.

The bodies of the victims have not yet been retrieved, due to the difficult conditions in the dense bushland where the plane crashed.

Today Show reporter at Mt Disappointment, Izabella Staskowski, says it’s “the worst aviation disaster in Victoria … in recent memory”.

“What we’re understanding is that it was a business trip. There were these two helicopters flying in a convoy, four people on one of these,” she told Ross and Russel.

The Microflite aircraft took off with another helicopter from Moorabbin Airport and was travelling to Ulupna.

The helicopter lost communication with a second helicopter in low-hanging cloud at about 8am.

It’s believed low-lying cloud or smoke haze may have contributed to the tragic crash.

“The actual official cause could take months to be determined but it is possible that some of the factors could be the smoke haze we’ve seen this week, or some low lying cloud,” Ms Staskowski said.

Press PLAY below to hear the latest on the tragic crash

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