Two men have died after a light plane crashed just north of the Gold Coast.

The plane crashed just after take-off into bushland in Jacobs Well near the Hecks Airfield just before 6am on Tuesday.

Two men — the 73-year-old pilot and his passenger — were killed, Queensland Police Superintendent Brett Jackson confirmed.

“That crash has been so significant that both occupants were unable to survive,” he said.

The crash started a large grass fire in the area, with 50 firefighters still working to contain the blaze.

Air assets have been requested however the fire is expected to be contained later on Tuesday.

An advice message has been issued for locals due to smoke in the area.

Jackson said the flight was planned and its destination was a small town just outside of Tamworth.

Police will look at CCTV from the nearby private airstrip to help with their investigation into the cause of the crash.

“Unfortunately there are no survivors but we still have a lot of work to do to uncover answers for the families, and to identify what was the causation of the crash,” he said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been notified and has deployed a team of transport safety investigators from its Brisbane and Canberra offices to the scene.

“They will arrive on site on Tuesday afternoon, and over coming days will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities, including site and wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components of interest for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra,” a ATSB spokesperson said.