Police said witnesses reported seeing the vintage Tiger Moth crash shortly after take-off about 5pm.

The Tiger Moth burst into flames in trees at the northern end of the bitumen runway. A Maryborough Aero Club member confirmed one of the men was a fellow club member but declined to talk about the incident further.

Sergeant Luke Kinder of Maryborough police said the names and ages of the two men killed could not be released but early investigations suggested the pilot owned the Tiger Moth.

“Shortly after take-off the aircraft has crashed a short distance from the runway,” he said.

“The cause of that crash hasn’t been determined.

“It was certainly horrific, that would describe it best.’’

Sergeant Kinder said the investigation was yet to determine if the plane had hit trees on take-off.

He said the crash started a grass fire that Maryborough firefighters contained “fairly quickly”. Maryborough Aero Club members gathered inside a shed at the airfield but did not want to talk about the crash.

Four cars were parked outside the airport, with another two inside.

Emergency services initially blocked traffic at the corner of Pekin and Leviathan roads.

The roadblock was later shifted to the airfield entrance. Sergeant Kinder said the crash scene would be closed off until Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators arrived this morning.

Police will treat the airport as a crime scene until the bureau completes its investigation.

State Emergency Service volunteers also attended the scene.