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SYDNEY - The pilot of a light plane is feared dead after the aircraft crashed into a lake in the New South Wales Hunter region, emergency authorities say.
However two passengers survived this morning's crash and managed to escape from the plane, says a NSW Ambulance Service spokeswoman.
Police said the pilot, a man aged in his seventies, was missing after the plane went down at Lake Liddell, north-west of Singleton, at 9.40am (NZT 11.40am).
"Two of the men managed to escape and swim to shore and they reported that there was another man inside the plane," the ambulance spokeswoman said.
"It's now feared that man is dead," she said.
The two survivors were being treated at the scene, but were not badly injured.
Police said they were unable to confirm the number of people who were aboard the aircraft when it crashed.
Police divers have been called to the scene.
An Air Services Australia (ASA) spokesman said the converted fire-bomber, Air Tractor model AT 8T, was being used for aerial photography when it crashed.
She said the plane had been converted from a fire-fighting aircraft.
A Westpac rescue helicopter flew to the scene from Newcastle, and police and ambulance crews were in attendance.
- AAP
