Three men died after two light planes collided mid-air and crashed into a forested area south-west of Sydney on Saturday.
Australian police, fire and ambulance crews reached the two wreckage sites, located in a semi-rural bushland area about 55 miles southwest of Sydney, on foot. One plane had burst into flames on impact.
New South Wales (NSW) Police Acting Superintendent Timothy Calman confirmed that a Cessna 182 carrying two people collided with an ultralight aircraft from a nearby airfield carrying one.
Further details of the victims have not been disclosed.
Witnesses saw "debris coming from the sky" and tried to help, but "there was probably not much that could've been done," Mr Calman said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He added: “Preliminary information would suggest the aircraft had been part of a wider flight, and the aircraft had potentially returned to the airfield and taken off again and come into collision, potentially, with the other aircraft.”
He noted both crashes, about a mile apart, were "not survivable".
NSW Ambulance inspector Joseph Ibrahim, part of the emergency response team, said to the ABC, "unfortunately, there was nothing they could've done". The cause of the crash will be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Local councillor Suzy Brandstater told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It’s horrific and I really also feel for community members who saw it.
“It’s something you’re never going to forget – seeing two planes crash.”
