Light plane crash in Barossa leaves two dead

A Barossa Valley man is one of two men who died in a light plane crash in Krondorf this morning. 

The other deceased man is a non-local.

Police were called to a property on Krondorf Road, near Tanunda, just after 8am and patrol members located the plane and the bodies of the two deceased men in the two-seater aircraft.

Alex Zimmermann, Chief Inspector of the Barossa Local Service Area, would not speculate on the cause of the crash. 

“At this time we are still investigating the cause of the crash and we are working with Recreation Aviation Australia officials,” Chief Inspector Zimmermann said. 

“We have located some wreckage of the aircraft which is being guarded and that will form part of the investigation.”

An eyewitness to the crash said the plane appeared to have broken up in the air before it crashed in the paddock between two wineries, Rockfords and Charles Melton.

Chief Inspector Zimmermann declined to comment on the eyewitness' observation, saying that the statement would be passed onto the crash investigators. 

“We have got a very comprehensive statement from the person about what he saw the aircraft doing at the time," Mr Zimmermann said. 

"Certainly there’s no suggestion they were doing aerobatics," he said. 

"What I can say is that it appears they were having some difficulty just prior to the crash.”

Police said the aircraft had been hired by the two men but the purpose of their flight was unknown.  

David Lindner, a local pilot, said he was pretty shaken up becasue he has flown the aircraft about six weeks ago.

"It might be people I know and that's what worries me at the moment," Mr Lindner said.

"There wasn't a lot of wind, to my knowledge, but there was low cloud.

"It might have got into clouds and they put it under stresses it wasn't designed for or which caused it to break up."

Road closures were in place at the intersection of Krondorf Road and Barossa Valley Highway.

Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.