Plane washes up on Fraser Island beach after crash

The plane has washed up on the beach this morning

The Air Fraser plane that crashed into the ocean on Wednesday has washed ashore

UPDATE: The plane has washed up on a Fraser Island beach this morning.

The crash happened off the coast of Happy Valley.

It was towed from the scene on Thursday morning.

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EARLIER: Two men are lucky to be alive after the plane they were travelling in plunged into the ocean about 150m off the coast of Fraser Island yesterday.

One of the men was veteran pilot Gerry Geltch, owner of the plane and the airline, Air Fraser.

Both men were forced to swim to shore at Happy Valley, where police and paramedics were waiting for the.

They were later flown to Hervey Bay Hospital via rescue helicopter.

Queensland Ambulance Services senior operations supervisor Martin Kelly said Mr Geltch aged in his 60s, had lacerations to his head and face and abrasions to his legs and arms.

A man in his 20s had a head laceration.

"About 1.30pm a light aircraft crashed into the water off the eastern coast of Fraser Island near Happy Valley. Two people were on-board the aircraft at the time," said Inspector Tony Clowes.

"Emergency services were in the area and were able to respond to the scene quickly," he said.

"Emergency services swam out to the plane about 150m off shore and helped the occupants to shore.

"The men were hurt but did not sustain life threatening injuries.

"They were treated on scene and taken to hospital."

"The outcome was as good as we could hope for," he said.

He would not speculate on what caused the plane to come down, saying the necessary authorities have taken over the investigation.

It is unclear whether the aircraft was heading to or leaving Fraser Island. However, Const Clowes said the island is a major tourism attraction for the region and it was not usual for aircraft to be flying in the area.

It comes after a series of incidents involving Air Fraser in recent months.

One earlier this month saw one of the plane's overshoot the runway, which caused a plane to nosedive on a beach on Fraser Island.

Mr Geltch, speaking to 7NEWS.com.au at the time, said the plane hit a shallow pool of water while landing on a designated beach runway. The Australian Safety Transport Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority have been investigating the incident.

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