2 die, 2 survive in Aus as plane, helicopter collide

Two people died and two survived when a light plane and helicopter collided over the remote Outback of western Australia during a government cull of wild goats, police said on Thursday.

Both aircraft were involved in shooting wild goats in the mountainous Kennedy Range National Park, 700 km north of the west coast city of Perth, when the crash occurred last night, Western Australia state police spokeswoman Sgt. Diane Simpson said.

The pilot and sole passenger of the plane died, while the two occupants of the helicopter suffered minor injuries, she said. "There was a midair collision," Simpson said, adding that aviation authorities were investigating the crash.