Probe as mystery plane crash caught on camera

The plane took off around 7:20 am (0520 GMT) yesterday. Shortly afterwards, it tilted abruptly to the right and was seen plunging towards the ground, finally exploding into a ball of flames on a road that rings the main runway, damaging the perimeter wall and fence. 

The accident resulted in traffic in and out of the airport being suspended for almost four hours, with 13 incoming flights diverted to Sicily.

But the terminal was not evacuated and only two outgoing flights were cancelled before normal service was resumed.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told parliament that human error or a mechanical fault was the most likely cause of the incident.

Three of French nationals who died were employees of the country's defence ministry. 

The two others were pilots employed by CAE Aviation, a private company based in Luxembourg which specialises in aerial surveillance and works regularly with European military.

CAE aviation said the plane "was being flown by an experienced crew with no technical issues reported on previous flights."

An eye-witness has captured footage of the incident.