A search is underway for a plane which was declared missing after failing to make its scheduled arrival time, with fears it may have crashed in a remote alpine wilderness.
Emergency services were notified about 4.35pm on Tuesday the light aircraft had missed its scheduled arrival time at Moruya Airport on NSW’s Far South Coast.
It was flying from Wangaratta in north-east Victoria with one person on board, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
Its last known location was Khancoban, a small town in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains.
‘The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was notified by Air Services Australia that a plane took off from Victoria, bound for Moruya Airport; however, it never arrived,’ a NSW Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Police believe the plane may have crashed within 500metres of the Dargals Trail, a remote hiking and mountain biking track in Kosciuszko National Park.
A multi-agency search effort was launched on Tuesday led by the NSW Police Alpine Operations Unit officer along with the NSW and Victoria Ambulance Service.
Despite assistance from the National Parks and Wildlife Services and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre airwing, the plane was unable to be located.
The plane missed its scheduled arrival at Moruya Airport on NSW’s Far South Coast (pictured)
Police fear the plane may have crashed in NSW’s Snowy Mountains region (stock)
Multi-agency ground search efforts resumed about 8.30am on Wednesday morning and were expected to continue into nightfall.
Ground searches are set to recommence at first morning light.
‘The ground-search teams will be faced with rugged and inaccessible alpine terrain impacted by recent heavy snow falls,’ an AMSA spokesperson told ABC News.
Meanwhile the AMSA-led aerial search near Khancoban was reportedly suspended about 4pm on Wednesday due to ‘limited visibility’.
Temperatures at Khancoban ranged between five and ten degrees Celsius on Tuesday with snow showers forecast at higher altitudes.
Further showers are expected to take place on Thursday with temperatures falling as low as one degree above freezing.
