Authorities have confirmed a man in his 30s and a young boy died in a light plane crash near Grafton in northern New South Wales.
The aircraft, reportedly described by authorities as a “homemade-type plane”, crashed on a rural property at Lilydale on Tuesday at about 9am after clipping powerlines. It hit the ground next to the Clarence River and caught fire.
Acting Insp Aaron van Schaik said the plane had initially taken off from the Gold Coast on Monday and stopped over at an unknown location overnight before taking off again on Tuesday morning.
“It’s apparent, or most likely, that it stayed overnight somewhere and then took off again,” Van Schaik said on Tuesday.
Police want to speak to anyone who saw the crash or has information on where the plane was headed. Van Schaik said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was consulted as part of the investigation.
Registered nurse Kerry Monk told the ABC that she heard the crash from her nearby campsite and rushed to assist.
“It was so intense, the flames and the black billowing smoke, it was very, very hot,” she said.
“While I was calling emergency services I was sort of investigating at the same time what I was looking at and realised there was nothing I could do for anyone that was there. It was pretty intense.”
