Three people are dead after a plane crash in Sydney’s south-west.
Local police said “nothing could be done” to save the passengers of two light planes which are understood to have collided and crashed before midday on Saturday at Belimbla Park, in Sydney’s Macarthur region.
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 police “tragically” located the wreckage of a plane that had caught fire upon hitting the ground.
The plane’s two passengers are yet to be formally identified.
“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 have identified its sole male occupant, and are 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 is unknown whether the planes were associated with either of these schools, however 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 fire at the scene of the first aircraft was extinguished by Rural Fire Service volunteers.
NSW Police, Fire and Rescue and NSW Ambulance attended the scene.
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”.
An investigation into the cause of the crash will be undertaken by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).