Six killed in luxury isle plane crash

Six people were killed today when their light plane crashed and burst into flames soon after it took off from a luxury Australian holiday isle.

Police said the chartered plane was carrying four New Zealanders, probably from the same family, an American and their Australian pilot.

The single-engined Piper Cherokee Six had just taken off from Hamilton Island, an exclusive resort about 370 miles north of Brisbane, the Queensland state capital, when it ploughed into a quarry, a police spokeswoman said.

The plane, which had full load of fuel, exploded upon impact.

Hamilton is one of the Whitsundays, a chain of 74 islands off Australia’s tropical east coast close to the southernmost tip of the Great Barrier Reef.

According to its official Web site, the island is home to six hotels.

Former Beatle George Harrison also once owned a holiday home there and Sarah, Duchess of York, has stayed on the island.