Bodies of young couple found in plane wreckage at north Queensland crash site

Rhiley and Maree Kuhrt were on their way to a small airfield near Mackay when their plane crashed. (Supplied: Facebook)

The bodies of a young couple have been found in the search for a plane reported missing in north Queensland.

Rhiley Kuhrt, 22, had taken off from Natal Downs Station, near Charters Towers, Sunday afternoon bound for the Lakeside Airpark at Bloomsbury, north of Mackay.

His plane was due to land at 5pm, but it never arrived.

Mr Kuhrt's 24-year-old wife, Maree, was also on board.

An aerial search of the area near the airfield was conducted last night, with more aircraft joining the search Monday morning.

The wreckage was found at the Clarke Range, west of Proserpine.

Rhiley and Maree Kuhrt were on board the Piper Cherokee which crashed on the way to Bloomsbury on Sunday. (Supplied: Facebook)

Plane faced 'big storm'

Mackay Police Inspector Andrew Godbold said the Cherokee plane faced harsh weather conditions ahead of the crash. 

"It was heading over this way towards the coast … when it got into some difficulties with that big storm yesterday afternoon," he said.

"They would have been faced with a lot of showers, a lot of thunder and probably visibility down to next to nothing."

Inspector Godbold said Mr Kurht was a "fairly experienced" pilot who had flown the route a number of times before.

Inspector Andrew Godbold says the plane faced difficulties with weather. (ABC Tropical North: Hannah Walsh)

The crash scene remains difficult to access and police anticipate the retrieval operation may take two to three days.

"It's very rugged terrain, there's a lot of mountain terrain there," Inspector Godbold said.

"It's very difficult for us to walk in at the moment."

Police confirmed Mr Kurht's father is a member of the Queensland Police Service.

"It's tragic for the family to go through these, and especially a police family as well," Inspector Godbold said.

The plane was expected to land here at the Lakeside Airpark late Sunday afternoon, but it did not arrive. (ABC Tropical North: Hannah Walsh)

A close-knit community

Harvie Rickard, a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer at Lakeside Airpark, said the facility was used for maintenance and storage of planes.

"This airfield is an airpark where normal people just store their aircraft … and take off and land," he said.

Harvie Rickhard says the airfield is mostly used to store aircraft and gets the majority of its use on weekends. (ABC Tropical North: Hannah Walsh)

"We would have on the weekends up to five to 10 [aircraft]. During the week it's quite quiet here.

"We also have people who just come in who want to store their aircraft for the weekend and want to go into the Whitsundays.

"Everyone knows everyone, that's just what happens in the aviation industry."

A joint investigation between police and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will look into the circumstances and cause of the crash.