Two bodies have been discovered inside the wreckage of a plane after it went missing in the Australian outback on Christmas Eve.
A 22-year-old male pilot and his 43-year-old female passenger left Gove, in northeast Arnhem land, about 8.30am on Saturday in a single engine Cessna210 aircraft.
When the pair failed to arrive in Katherine, authorities launched a desperate search operation across the region.
The light plane and the bodies were located in dense bushland, near Bulman – about 250km northeast of its intended destination – in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
The bodies of a man, 22, and a woman, 43, have been found in the wreckage of a plane in bushland near Bulman. Pictured: An overhead shot of Bulman
Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are now on their way to the Northern Territory to conduct a safety investigation into the accident.
‘The single engine plane with a pilot and one passenger on board was due to land in Katherine about 10.30am [on Saturday], but did not arrive,’ Northern Territory police said in a statement on Sunday.
‘AMSA Response Centre was alerted early yesterday afternoon and an air search for the aircraft commenced
‘Due to the remote location of the single engine plane and the investigation by Northern Territory Police being in its infancy no further information will be available today.’
Police are urging anyone who may have seen the plane between Gove and Katherine to contact them on 131 444 and quote reference number 10212740.
The plane went missing after leaving on a flight from Gove, northeast of Bulman, to Katherine
