Israeli killed in mid-air plane collision in Australia identified
31-year-old Ido Segev was among those killed. His family has been notified.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSA Piper PA-44 Seminole (LZ-FTO) flies over Bulgaria.(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Four people have been killed in a mid-air collision between two light aircraft about 120 kilometers from Melbourne. Among those killed was an Israeli civilian.The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that Israeli national Ido Segev, 31, was among the dead. The ministry is in contact with the local Israeli consulate, and the family has been notified. Segev appears to have been a long-term resident of Australia.“We are working with the family during this difficult time, and we are helping them with everything related to bringing the deceased back to Israel for burial,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, according to Israel National News.The twin-engine planes fell from the sky after colliding at 4,000 feet near the town of Seymour, central Victoria, in Australia's first mid-air crash in over a decade.One of the planes was a Piper Seminole registered to flight school Moorabbin Aviation Services, which had only been in the air for a few minutes. The occupants were believed to be undertaking instrument training. The other was a Beechcraft Travel Air registered to a private owner at Tyabb, on the Mornington Peninsula, from where it had traveled before the collision occurred.“Unfortunately, they collided mid-air, and unfortunately the occupants of both planes are deceased,” said Victoria Police spokesman Peter Koger, according to Israel National News.It was unclear why the planes were on the same trajectory and why they didn't avoid each other, although cloud cover was raised as a possibility."One plane almost certainly crashed immediately and the other plane crashed about two kilometers north from here. Both were extensively damaged prior to colliding with the ground," he added, according to The Australian."There were some people in the paddocks at the back of this facility, and there was also a helicopter in the air. We're working with them to get witness statements.’’Koger also appealed for anyone with dashcam footage from nearby roads to come forward and assist with the investigation.
