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Gold Coast plane crash: One dead in Tiger Moth crash (Australia)

Emergency services work to free a person trapped in the wreckage of a light plane crash on the Gold Coast.

The pilot of a vintage light plane that crashed on the Gold Coast survived the impact that killed his 58-year-old passenger on Monday morning.

The 21-year-old man has been taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition after being trapped by the legs in the wreckage of the bi-plane.

The male passenger died at the scene.

His daughter is believed to have watched on from the airport hangar as the tragedy unfolded.

Senior Sergeant Greg Brakes told ABC News at the airfield the plane was believed to have crashed shortly after it took off from an airstrip at Norwell, near Pimpama on the Gold Coast just before 9.30am.

"I know that the plane does some joy flights - I'm not sure if this was a paid-for joy flight or something else," he told the broadcaster.

He said the pilot is believed to have alerted emergency services to the crash.

"As a result, a short search was conducted before we located the plane," he said.

"Police, fire officers and [Queensland Ambulance Service] attended and located one male person deceased in the plane, and an injured person."

He said the pilot was semi-conscious when authorities arrived.

EARLIER

One person has died and another is trapped after a vintage light plane crashed on the Gold Coast on Monday morning.

The Tiger Moth came down just before 9.30am at an airstrip at Norwell, near Pimpama on the northern Gold Coast.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirmed one person had died and another was trapped in the wreckage.

The airstrip is home to Tiger Moth Joy Rides.

It is not the first time tragedy has befallen the Pimpama company.

In December 2013, a vintage wooden plane belonging to the company plunged into the ocean near Couran Cove Resort on South Stradbroke Island, killing French national Taissia Umenc, 21, and pilot Alexander "Jimmy" Rae, 26.

Ms Umenc had been taking a joyflight while holidaying on the Gold Coast.

The pair were killed minutes after take-off when the left wings of the two-seat de Havilland DH82A failed, causing the plane to plummet into the waters 300 metres off the coast.

An investigation by the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau found the Tiger Moth's lateral tie rods - metal pieces which connect the lower wings to the fuselage - had cracks near the join of the left wing.