Emergency services were called to Heck Field, a private airstrip north of the Gold Coast, after the plane went down in nearby bushland at around 6 a.m. local time, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The aircraft wreckage caught fire on impact, sparking a large blaze in bushland approximately 500 metres from the airstrip. Fire and rescue crews moved quickly to contain the flames as police secured the area.
Authorities said both occupants of the aircraft died at the scene. Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.
The 73-year-old pilot from Beenleigh, Queensland and a male passenger believed to be from Sydney died after the plane crashed soon after takeoff, police said.
They were the only occupants of a single-engine plane that was headed for a town near Tamworth, New South Wales.
“That crash has been so significant that both occupants were unable to survive,” Supt Brett Jackson said on Tuesday.
A large plume of smoke could be seen kilometres from the crash site late on Tuesday morning, while about 50 emergency services personnel were on the scene.
The crash site had been difficult to access for the ambulance, police and fire crews due to farmland and a nearby creek.
Water bombers were called in to assist crews working to contain the large bushfire, which was burning through nearby cane paddocks and vegetation.
State Emergency Service crews were also helping by ferrying resources, including forensic equipment, across a creek to the crash site, police said.
