Three dead after light aircraft crashes at Shellharbour Airport in NSW

Three people have died in a plane crash at Shellharbour Airport in the Lake Illawarra area of NSW.

At around 10 am Saturday (local time), emergency services responded to reports of an aircraft crash at Shellharbour Airport, 20 km south of Wollongong.

Officers from the Lake Illawarra Police District were informed that a light aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff.

Chief Inspector Aaron Wunderlich said the private plane intended to fly to Bathurst in the state’s central west.

"The plane has taken off from the tarmac and has gotten about 30 meters into the air," Wunderlich said.

"At that point, witnesses described the aircraft as then dipped with its left wing coming down and contacting the tarmac."

The plane caught on fire after hitting the ground, killing all three people on board.

Police confirmed the owner of the plane was onboard at the time of the crash.

"It’s quite a gruesome scene," Wunderlich said.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Inspector Andrew Barber said a local Rural Fire Service unit was at the airport, doing training at the time of the crash.

About 10-15 RFS volunteers responded to the crash, along with people involved with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Museum, which was located at the airport.

"They were on the scene within minutes," Barber said. "However, due to the nature of the combustion of fuel, the occupants had no chance of being saved."

Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the crash happened within seconds of the airplane taking off.

"There was a very short time period between the actual taxiing and takeoff, and when the accident occurred," he said.

"It is fair to assume something has gone wrong very quickly, as that aircraft has just left the ground."

ATSB investigators from Canberra and Melbourne had been deployed and were expected to reach the site on Saturday afternoon.

Mitchell said it was too early to know the cause of the crash, but the ATSB would examine all data, including the plane’s maintenance logs and the weather conditions.

"It will take us quite some time to get a better picture of what went wrong," he said. "This is the fourth fatal accident that the ATSB has investigated in the last two weeks alone."