A man has died after a helicopter he was piloting crashed into a riverbank at South Maroota in north-west Sydney on Saturday morning.
Emergency services were notified about the incident just before midday but had trouble accessing the site due to its location in remote bushland and recent flooding in the area.
They arrived to find the wreckage engulfed in flames.
Fire crews extinguished the blaze and recovered the body of a man believed to be in his sixties, who was the aircraft's sole occupant.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.
ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said there were reports a dead goose was found near the crash site but no conclusions had been drawn yet.
"There a lot of avenues we need to rule in or rule out," he said.
This is the fifth fatal helicopter accident in Australia this year and Mr Mitchell said the ATSB was working to determine what can be done to prevent more accidents.
"Until we know exactly the circumstances behind this [accident], it's a bit too early to say what the message may be."
