Two dead after plane crashes into hangar while trying to land in South Australia

Two people are believed to have died after a small plane crashed into a hangar as it was trying to land in South Australia, causing a massive fire.

The crash happened about 2.10pm on Wednesday, with police and emergency services called to an area near Kings Rd at Parafield Airport, in Adelaide’s north.

A pilot and their passenger were reportedly killed, while several other people were also injured, according to 7News.

Police have not yet confirmed the deaths but are expected to address the media on Wednesday afternoon.

It is understood four people were rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital, while seven more were taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital.

Images from the scene show a huge plume of smoke in the area.

“The immediate area has been evacuated as emergency services deal with the incident,” police said in a statement.

“Please avoid the area if possible.”

Joshua Swannell was driving near the airport at the time when he saw the crash.

“All I could hear was this plane kind of pitch,” Mr Swannell told ABC News.

“The pitch that it took, you could hear it struggle then straight down.

“I looked up and saw the plane up in the corner — go up, tilt, straight back down, nosedive — over the buildings.

“I just heard the crash, it just happened all so quick.”

Mr Swannell filmed the aftermath, including the black smoke.

“Within minutes it was just already so black, you couldn’t see anything — no flames, but just all black,” he said.

An airport spokesperson confirmed they were aware of the incident.

“Parafield Airport has been closed to all air traffic,” a statement read.

“We will provide full support to the emergency services in their response to this incident.”

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it had begun an investigation into “the accident involving a twin-engined Diamond DA42 aircraft at Adelaide’s Parafield Airport”.

“The ATSB has deployed a team of transport safety investigators from its Canberra and Brisbane offices, specialising in aircraft operations, maintenance and engineering, human factors and survival factors,” a statement read.

“They will arrive on site on Thursday morning, and over coming days will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities, including site and wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components of interest for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra.”

It is the second crash at Parafield Airport this year.

Learner pilot Youngin Kim crashed during takeoff in January, nosediving into the runway, which started a fire.