A crash site has been found in mountainous terrain north of Melbourne of a missing helicopter that had five people on board.
Emergency services were called around 9.35am local time on Thursday after reports an aircraft had vanished at Victoria's Mount Disappointment and the search went on for more than four hours in difficult weather conditions.
Now the crash site has been located but due to the difficult terrain, a rescue team has had to be winched down through trees and dense vegetation.
Police have confirmed that there were five people on board including the pilot but there is no news so far on survivors.
Two helicopters are believed to have been travelling in convoy when one of the aircraft disappeared.
Low cloud hampered the widespread search that got underway on Thursday morning which included a police helicopter and an air ambulance from the air.
On the ground there are around 20 cars from emergency services including Fire Forest Management Victoria with personnel who began climbing up the mountain.
A command post has been set up at Mount Disappointment, near Whittlesea.
There are also controlled fires in the area to prevent bush wildfires which are reducing visibility and there have been reports that some blazes maybe out of control.
The helicopter is believed to have been operated by a private charter company.
Victoria Police stated: "Police Air Wing located the wreckage in the vicinity of Blair’s Hut about 11.45am on 31 March.
It’s believed the pilot and four occupants were on board at the time. A ground search of the area will commence shortly."
It earlier said: “Two helicopters were travelling north in convoy from Melbourne’s , CBD over Mount Disappointment when one aircraft disappeared just after 9.30am. At this stage the second helicopter is yet to be located."
A fire spokeswoman reportedly said that they had four lorries and three fire engines at the scene.
"Crews are part of a multi-agency response to reports of an aircraft accident,” she said.
“(They) are supporting Victoria Police in the multi-agency response.”
