Overview

• The victims were identified in media reports as Andrew Connors, 55, his wife Julianne, 54, and their friend Colin McLaughlin, 73.
• The aircraft departed around 10 a.m., climbed roughly 30 meters, then dipped left, struck the runway and caught fire, with no other injuries reported.
• Flight-tracking data indicates the privately owned six-seat Piper Cherokee Lance was departing for Bathurst.
• Fire and Rescue NSW, assisted by Rural Fire Service trainees who were on-site for training, extinguished the blaze, and officials said the occupants could not have been saved.
• The ATSB is mapping the site with drones, collating flight data, CCTV and radio calls, moving wreckage to a hangar for examination, and expects a preliminary report in about two months as the airport remains closed during evidence collection.