Two men have died in a fiery light plane crash near a regional airport that sparked a forest fire.
Water bombers were called in to help control bushfires that raged for hours after the fueled plane crashed north of the Gold Coast.
Emergency services rushed to Heck Field, a private airstrip north of the Gold Coast, after the plane crashed in nearby bushland about 6am on Tuesday.
The 73-year-old pilot from Beenleigh and a male passenger, believed to be from Sydney, died after the plane crashed at the Jacobs Well site shortly after take-off, police said.
They were the only occupants of a single-engine plane headed to a town near Tamworth, NSW.
“That crash was so serious that both occupants could not survive,” Police Chief Brett Jackson said on Tuesday.
The light aircraft crashed near the Heck Field runway in Woongoolba. Source: MONKEY / Robyn Wuth
The wreckage caught fire on impact, causing a major fire about 500 meters from the runway in terrain that was difficult for emergency services to reach.
According to police, it is still too early to speculate about the cause of the accident.
Transportation safety investigators responded to the scene Tuesday afternoon.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was reported to have crashed shortly after take-off.
“The aircraft was destroyed in a post-impact fire, and the pilot and passenger on board were fatally injured,” agency Chief Angus Mitchell said in a statement.
Police previously said the pilot’s flight history would be part of the investigation.
“We are aware that the scheduled flight was to a small town just outside Tamworth, so we have that information,” Jackson said.
“As for the intention behind the trip, I don’t actually have that information, it will be part of the investigation.”
Late Tuesday morning, a large plume of smoke could be seen miles away from the crash site, while about 50 emergency responders were on site.
The crash site was difficult to access for ambulances, police and fire brigades due to farmland and a nearby creek.
Water bombers have been deployed to help crews battle the large bushfire, which is raging through nearby reed beds and vegetation.
SES crews also assisted by transporting resources, including forensic equipment, across a creek to the crash site, police said.
More than 60 hectares of land was affected as crews worked to control the fire.
The fire was finally under control around noon, but continued to burn on Tuesday afternoon.
“Conditions today are not great for firefighting and we can see that from the erratic fire behavior over the past few hours,” Rural Fire Service Queensland Chief Officer Joel Gordon said.
“Also, the speed at which this fire has increased with the south-easterly blowing which is expected to reach around 20 miles per hour.”
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