A body has been pulled from a light plane that crashed over Budawang National Park in NSW.
The pilot, believed to be in his 60s, was flying a Cirrus SR20 aircraft he rented when it went down about 4.30pm on Thursday.
The plane is believed to have been on a training exercise with Bankstown Flying School.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
It had taken off from Bankstown Airport in Sydney about 11am and flew to Mallacoota in eastern Victoria before going missing on the return journey to Sydney.
Detective Chief Inspector David Cockram said on Friday it was unusual for an aircraft to crash onto land, particularly in that area.
“I can’t recall it happening in the last 10 or so years, so it’s not something we respond to all the time,” Cockram said.
He noted that fog at the time of the crash may have been a contributing factor.
“It was unlikely the fellow would survive the impact that they (air traffic controllers) had observed,” he said.
The crash site was initially confirmed from the air on Thursday evening, about 25km north of Batemans Bay, and the wreckage was found on Friday morning.
NSW Police launched a multi-agency search on Thursday, but the remote location meant the site could only be accessed on foot.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Friday it had opened a transport safety investigation into the crash, which is expected to take about two months.
“Planned activities include site and wreckage examination, mapping the site with a drone, and recovering aircraft components for further analysis at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra,” the bureau said.
Stream free on
