Two die in plane crash watched by Australia Day crowd

Two people have died in a light plane crash in Perth 
as a crowd celebrating Australia Day watched on.

The Grumman G-73 "Mallard" flying boat nosedived into
 San River in Western Australia's capital just after 17:00 
local time on Thursday.

Pilot Peter Lynch, 52, and his girlfriend Endah Cakrawati, 
30, were the sole occupants, police said.

An annual fireworks celebration, expected to draw 
300,000 people to the river, was immediately cancelled.

Western Australia Police acting commissioner Stephen
 Brown said the cause of the crash was being 
investigated.

"I was actually standing on the Perth foreshore doing
 a live Cross to one of the TV channels when the tragic
 events unfolded in the sky above me," he said on Friday.

"It clearly had broken at least in two significant 
parts, and was sinking very quickly."

Mr Lynch was a father of three, according to 
Fortescue Medals Group, where he worked as 
a mining executive.

Ms Cakrawati was a public relations manager for
 Cokal, an Australian-listed coal company.

"Peter was a great mate and all of us at Fortescue 
convoy our deepest condolences to his family, 
including his three children, and to Endah's family,
" Fortescue chief  Nev Power said in a statement.

Mr Lynch was described as "well-loved and respected" 
by the Great Eastern Fly-In, an aviation community.

Crowd shocked

Witness Lloyd Douglas, who was on a nearby boat, 
said the plane appeared to stall as it turned towards 
the city.

"As he banked left he seemed to go further to the left
 ... and lose forward momentum and lost altitude
 fairly quickly," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Another onlooker, Craig Newill, said the accident 
shocked his
family.

"[The] wings were pointing to the sky and to the water
and we thought 'this is not good', then we saw it break
 into two pieces," he told Perth Now .

Mr Brown told reporters it was fortunate the plane did 
not hit the crowd.

"For reasons yet unknown, it's entered the waterway, thankful without injuring anyone else on the ground
 or any other people who are here the event," he said.

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the fireworks
 were cancelled out of respect to the victims and to 
"conserve the integrity of the [crash] site".

The plane remained in the river overnight.