Three killed after two light aircraft collide midair near Sydney

Three people were killed after two light aircraft collided midair and crashed into bushland southwest of Sydney on Saturday, police said.

The crash took place at about 11.50am local time near Belimbla Park Oakdale, scattering debris and leaving one plane ablaze upon impact.

Police, fire and ambulance crews reached the remote crash sites on foot.

Acting superintendent Timothy Calman of the New South Wales Police said the crash involved a Cessna 182 carrying two persons and an ultralight aircraft piloted by a lone individual, both flying from a nearby airstrip.

“The scene that we are closest to has been impacted by fire, it would not have been a survivable impact,” said Mr Calman, referring to the Cessna crash site.

“The second scene a kilometre north of here, that aircraft did not burn but also not a survivable impact. They are rather infrequent, collisions of this nature.”

He said witnesses who observed "debris coming from the sky" had tried to help but "there was probably not much that could have been done”.

Police initially said bodies of three men were found, but later in a press conference Mr Calman said the gender of two people was still to be confirmed, reported The Guardian.

The plane with two people was believed to be flying from Cessnock to Wollongong.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was investigating the cause of the collision.

A local councillor, Suzy Brandstater, described the crash as "horrific."

Ms Brandstater said the Wollondilly Shire area was used by trainee pilots and flying enthusiasts. “Recreational flying is very popular, and this is probably one of the closest places to Sydney that you can do it,” she told the Australian Associated Press.

A witness recalled that one of the two planes nosedived into bushland in Belimbla Park. Bernadette Elliot, 48, reported hearing a “popping sound like a firecracker” before seeing smoke trail from a yellow and black aircraft as it came crashing down.

Ms Elliot, who watched from a nearby property, told the Sydney Morning Herald she also saw a man suspended in a bright green parachute near the crash site.

Emergency personnel continued to work across the scene as forensics and police rescue vehicles surveyed the bushland. Police urged the public to keep away from the area to allow investigations to proceed uninterrupted.

“A team of transport safety investigators from the ATSB’s Canberra office, with experience in aircraft operations and maintenance, is preparing to deploy to the accident sites of both aircraft to begin evidence-collecting activities,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said. “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 agency would release a preliminary report in about two months and the final report would be released at the conclusion of the investigation.

“However, if at any point during the investigation we uncover any critical safety issues we will immediately inform relevant parties so they can take safety actions,” it said.