Skydiving plane with 17 onboard crashes in Australia

Shortly after taking off it got into difficulty and was forced to make an emergency landing. Photo credit: 9News

A skydiving plane carrying 17 people crashed near a lake in Victoria, Australia on Friday morning. 

Shortly after taking off from Barwon Heads Airport, the plane got into difficulty and was forced to make an emergency landing in nearby Connewarre. 

Photos from the scene show the plane in a grassy field with its nose broken off. 

According to local news outlets, five people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the remaining 12 were assessed at the scene by paramedics. 

It is currently unknown what caused the crash, however, a police investigation into the exact circumstance is ongoing. 

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