By Frances Howe and Mary Ward
Three people are dead after a plane crash in Sydney’s south-west.
Local police said nothing could be done to save the passenger and pilots of two light planes which are understood to have collided and crashed before midday on Saturday at Belimbla Park, in Sydney’s Macarthur region.
The site of a light plane crash in Belimbla Park on Saturday.Credit: Nine News
Police established a crime scene at each of the wrecked planes, which were found about one kilometre apart, on Saturday afternoon.
The first plane to be located by police after receiving reports of the crash was a Cessna 182 travelling from Cessnock to Wollongong.
Acting Superintendent Timothy Calman said one of the planes had caught fire upon hitting the ground.
The plane’s pilot and passenger are yet to be formally identified.
Acting Superintendent Timothy Calman (left) and paramedic Joe Hibraim speak to the media.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done to save the occupants of the aircraft,” Calman said.
The location of the second plane was identified by the PolAir helicopter. Police had identified its sole male occupant and were contacting his next of kin.
The crash sites are near two flying schools, Sydney Recreational Flying Club and Dave’s Flying School, both in The Oaks, a neighbouring suburb.
It was unknown whether the planes were associated with either of these schools, but Calman said the second aircraft, an ultralight Jabiru plane, is believed to have originated from The Oaks’ airfield.
“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 said.
The area is popular with trainee pilots and recreational flyers, local councillor Suzy Brandstater said.
“Recreational flying is very popular and this is probably one of the closest places to Sydney that you can do it,” she said.
The Wollondilly Shire councillor said the accident was a “terrible shock”.
“It’s horrific and I really also feel for community members who saw it,” she said. “It’s something you’re never going to forget – seeing two planes crash.”
Witness Bernadette Elliot, 48, said she watched from a nearby property as one of the planes nosedived into the bushland in Belimbla Park.
She recalled hearing a “popping sound like a firecracker” and saw smoke come from a yellow and black plane before it crashed.
Elliot said she also saw a man suspended from a bright green parachute in the air close to where the planes crashed. She described the whole scene as “shocking”.
Police near the scene of the fatal plane crash near Oakdale on Saturday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
The planes were flying in uncontrolled airspace at the time of the accident.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will deploy a team to the crash sites to interview witnesses and collect air traffic control and flight tracking data, pilot and aircraft maintenance records, as well as weather information.
“Over coming days, investigators will undertake site mapping, examine the wreckage of both aircraft and recover any relevant components for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra,” the safety regulator said.
– With AAP
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