Brothers, third male die in plane crash

Two teenagers and a man in his 20s have been killed in a light plane crash in eastern Victoria.

The crash happened near the Gippsland town of Heyfield on Saturday, about 5.45pm.

The three people on board – brothers aged 20 and 16, and another 15-year-old male – died in the incident.

The 20-year-old was a licensed pilot, the Herald Sun reported.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the plane was “amateur-built”.

Flight data shows the aircraft was in the air for 17 minutes.

The plane crashed into a paddock and was destroyed by fire, bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said.

“The ATSB is deploying to the accident site a team of transport safety investigators from its Canberra office, specialising in aircraft operations and maintenance,” he said.

The bureau will now investigate and parts of the aircraft will be examined in Canberra, Mr Mitchell said.

“The ATSB anticipates publishing a preliminary report, detailing the information collected in the investigation’s early evidence gathering phase, in about six to eight weeks.”

Residents in the area of the crash told media the plane was circling before the incident.

Flight data shows the aircraft departed West Sale Airport at 5.30pm on Saturday. It took off, flew north, before doing five asymmetrical loops above the town of Maffra. The plane was then flown west and flew about four loops before crashing.

The previous owner of the plane, from Queensland, told the Herald Sun he had sold the plane two weeks ago.

As well as the transport safety bureau investigation, a report will be prepared for the coroner.

A Victorian aviation industry consultant – whose business designs planes and issues airworthiness certificates – arrived at the scene on Sunday, and said the crash was a “another tragic accident”.

“We’re in a state in the industry at the moment where we are looking at training, we’re looking at maintenance, we’re looking at particularly loss-of-control flight accidents,” consultant Lorraine MacGillvray said.

“It’s up to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to conduct the investigation, so I cannot pre-empt any cause for this accident.”

“I have some ideas – they could possibly be premature – we’ve got a situation where in Australia at the moment the ATSB can be selective on the accidents they investigate – I’m very happy they are investigating this accident.”

Flight data shows the plane had been flown frequently in the past week.

Including numerous short and hour-long flights around Echuca in the state’s north, the plane was flown from Echuca to Moorabbin in Melbourne on Friday, and then to Sale later that day.