The pilot was making a routine flight to Melaluca about 8.30am on Saturday, but had attempted to return to Hobart before it went missing. 

There was a 0 per cent chance of survival, Tasmania Police said. The cause of the crash is being investigated, but Tasmania Police Inspector Dave Wiss said the investigation and body retrieval would be “difficult at best”. 

“We don’t know whether it’s going to be successful and we don’t know how long it’s going to take,” he said.

Inspector Wiss said retrieving the body and completing the investigation was Tasmania Police’s top priority. 

Searches were carried out on Saturday with the plane being located about 7pm. It was made difficult because of the terrain and weather. 

A team of investigators were sent to the site on Sunday and were expect to get on the ground for the first time. 

“These are expert investigators, with forensic capacities, but they also need to be search and rescue trained,” Inspector Wiss said.

“It’s on the side of a mountain and they need to be winched down and they will be roped securely while they undertake the investigation, if they can land.” 

The site will be “difficult and dangerous” to investigate because it’s about 100 metres from the mountain’s pinnacle. 

“[Sunday] will really give us  an insight into the plan moving forward. This will be the first time we’re attempting to have people on the ground which is on the side of a mountain near the top of cliff tops,” Inspector Wiss said. 

“It will be difficult to retrieve the pilot and the parts of the plane that will provide better light on this.” 

The plane was owned by Airlines of Tasmania, with managing director Shannon Wells saying the pilot was “well versed” in the fight path. 

Mr Wells said it had been a tough few days. 

“There has been a lot of tears shed between my self and my colleagues. We’re a small family business and have trained up a lot of our people here,” he said.  

“We’re only about 30 staff and we know them all by name so when one of them doesn’t come home it really hits us all quite hard.”

The company was expected to have a senior management meeting on Sunday afternoon. The Australian Safety Transport Bureau is investigating.

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