The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Emergency services scrambled to the crash site near Essendon Airport, Melbourne, after the plane crashed into a row of shops.

Dramatic eyewitness pictures show thick black smoke and flames billowing from the wreckage.

A dashcam captured the moment the doomed flight crashed into the shopping centre.

Five people, four American tourists and an Australian pilot Max Quartermain were aboard the plane and died in the incident.

(Image: TWITTER)

(Image: DS)

A witness described the scene as "the vision you see of an atomic bomb”.

He added: “Just a ball of flame going up in the air."

It is believed the passengers aboard the private charter flight were all golfers, visiting a course at King Island.

Jason from Adelaide was in a taxi when he saw the horrifying scenes unfold.

He said: "The plane was coming way, way fast. I thought that's faster than normal.

"It looked like it hit the building, there was a massive fireball. I could feel the heat through the window.

"Then a wheel, it looked like a plane wheel, bounced on the road."

(Image: TWITTER)

It is believed the plane made two mayday calls during takeoff shortly before the crash.

Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville described the incident as a "very, very tragic incident".

The families of two of the passengers Greg De Haven and lawyer Russell Munsch have paid tribute to them on social media.

The crash caused travel chaos nearby with the Tullamarine Freeway closed in both directions.

The small aircraft which crashed into the shopping centre is a VH-ZCR plane operated by boutique private charter company Corporate and Leisure.

The shopping centre was not open at the time.