A light aircraft carrying nine adult passengers and a 14-year-old girl has crashed off an island in the Great Barrier Reef.
The plane is believed to have overshot the only runway at Lizard Island, about 240km North of Cairns, while taking off before colliding with trees and flipping at about 7.20am on Monday.
Only two of the nine passengers received minor injuries during the crash, all of which were miraculously able to walk away from the wreck.
One adult sustained a minor head injury while another adult received a minor arm injury.
Two rescue helicopters and the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) rushed to the secluded island to assess the situation and provide aid for those involved.
A light aircraft (pictured) carrying nine adult passengers and a 14-year-old girl has overshot a runway before colliding with trees and flipping on Lizard Island, in the Great Barrier Reef
Emergency services rushed to the secluded island (pictured) to find only two of the adult passengers had received minor injuries while the others walked away unharmed
Acting Assistant Commissioner for the QAS, Brina Keating, said the lack of serious injuries was astounding.
‘All were walking, they were able to get out of the aircraft,’ according to the ABC.
‘To walk away from something like that is incredible.’
An investigation into how the crash occurred has been launched but already hampered because of the island’s inaccessibility.
Lizard Island is a luxury holiday destination for the rich and famous as it’s home to an exclusive and secluded resort and numerous holiday-homes.
Those getting to the island, about 27km off the coast of the mainland, can take an hour-long ‘scenic’ flight from Cairns.
The resort’s website reveals flight off the island take-off daily at 12:25pm and 3:25pm, however ‘private charters can also be arranged’.