Two Queenslanders who died in a light plane crash in the Northern Territory had been transporting a man's body for burial.
The men, aged 23 and 33, were taking the man home to Elcho Island from Darwin when the single-engine, six-seater aircraft went down just after taking off at 1.30pm on Monday.
The pilot and a passenger died when the plane lost its wings as it ripped through bushland and crashed on a rural road at Howard Springs, 30km from Darwin Airport.
Wreckage from the Air Frontier plane, which was more than 40 years old, was strewn across bushland on either side of Gunn Point Road, with its wings and body found 400m apart.
NT Police have notified the victims' families.
"Today, members from the Australian Transport Safety Branch travelled to Darwin to commence their investigations into the exact cause of the crash," NT Police said in a statement.
Part of one wing was found hanging from a tree and another was discovered nearby by the side of the dirt road.
A second crime scene was set up on the other side, where the plane's fuselage disintegrated on impact.
Superintendent Tony Deutrom said on Monday that heavy rain was considered as factor in the crash.
Road closures will be in place until Tuesday afternoon and although police have asked the public to avoid the area, locals have begun laying flowers.
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Light planes are not required to carry black boxes or flight recorders on board but mechanical engineers will likely analyse GPS data.
The ATSB representatives will be on the ground for at least a week but Supt Deutrom says it will be some time before they piece together what happened.
