Pilot of crashed charter plane already under investigation

The scene where a light plane crashed into the back of a building at Essendon airport in Melbourne, Australia, February 21, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SYDNEY - The pilot of a plane that crashed into a Melbourne shopping center on Tuesday was already under investigation over a "near collision", it has been revealed.

Max Quartermain, 63, and his four passengers were killed after the charter plane they were on ploughed into the Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) shopping center in Essendon in Melbourne's north at 09:00 am local time on Tuesday.

Witnesses of the crash described seeing a "massive fireball" erupt from the crash scene as debris scattered across the nearby Tullamarine freeway.

The plan experienced "catastrophic engine failure" soon after taking off from Essendon airport bound for King Island, a popular golf tourist destination, with Quartermain and four passengers from the United States on board.

The passengers have been identified as Texas businessmen John Washburn, Greg De Haven, Russell Munsch and Glenn Garland.

It has been revealed that Quartermain was the subject of an investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) regarding a near miss with another plane at Mount Hotham, 350 kms north-east of Melbourne in September 2015.

A summary of the investigation said that Quartermain's plane, with the call signal VH-OWN, came within 100 meters of colliding with another plane mid-air in bad weather.

It said that Quartermain's plane experienced "tracking difficulties" as it approached Hotham.

"VH-OWN was then observed to carry out significant manoeuvring while on short final to the runway before landing," the report said.

The revelation that Quartermain was under investigation came as Michael Buxton, a planning expert at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) said that the commercial precinct should have never been built on the site.