Pilot and pregnant wife killed in light plane crash in Queensland

Family and friends are grieving the loss of bush pilot Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife Maree, who was 27 weeks pregnant with a baby girl.

The couple was on board a Piper Cherokee plane which left a cattle station yesterday afternoon before crashing in the Clarke Ranges, west of Proserpine.

Kuhrt is the son of a police officer, it has been confirmed.

The wreckage was spotted by a rescue chopper more than 15 hours after the flight was reported missing when the couple failed to arrive at Lakeside Airpark.

Inspector Andrew Godbold from Queensland Police confirmed the crash site had been found and said it could take up to three days to retrieve the bodies.

“The only way in is via helicopter at this stage,” he said.

“It’s a very rugged terrain.”

He said it was believed the plane got into difficulties during a storm and that the pair were on their way to visit family.

“There’s a lot of trees there on that mountain, a very steep area.” Godbold said.

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“They would have been faced with a lot of showers, a lot of thunder and probably visibility down to nothing.”

He said the plane, which belonged to Kuhrt, appeared to have turned back towards the mountains.

The plane’s disappearance sparked a widescale search and rescue mission, which restarted today at first light.

The crash site was discovered at 10.15am by a QGAir Rescue helicopter based in Townsville.

The plane departed Natal Downs Station, a rural property near Charters Towers, at 2pm yesterday.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said he was devastated by the crash.

“The loss of life in aviation is really gut-wrenching,” he said.

“General aviation accidents are very uncommon so to have this happen in our region is upsetting.”

Investigations into what happened are now underway.