Transport safety investigators will descend on a suburban Melbourne street where a small plane crashed and burst into flames, killing its pilot and narrowly missing homes.
A 50-year-old man was found dead inside the single-engine Cessna 172 after it crashed in residential Scarlet Street at Mordialloc just after 5pm on Friday.
The plane had torn down power lines as it came down and caught fire, with the flames rising higher than seven metres before they were put out by firefighters.
Scarlet Street resident Robert Fox said he saw the burning aircraft after sirens drew him to his street, where there was "black smoke billowing".
"It was very intense, it was very strong," he told AAP.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has confirmed investigators will travel to the site on Saturday to begin collecting evidence that it hopes will help it determine the exact cause of the crash.
The evidence gathered will determine the scope of the investigation and the time expected for the ATSB to prepare a final report, it noted.
The plane crashed a short distance south of Moorabbin Airport and its operator was Oxford Aviation Academy, a Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman confirmed.
The academy said on Friday night it did not wish to comment on the incident.
The location of the crash:
