By Rachael Ward in Melbourne

A 20-year-old pilot and his two teenage passengers have been identified as the three people killed in a light plane crash in eastern Victoria.

The plane was seen circling at Tinamba West in east Gippsland before crashing into a paddock and bursting into flames at about 5.45pm on Saturday, Victoria Police said.

The three people onboard were boys aged 15 and 16 from Tongala in central Victoria and the pilot from Tinamba West, police said.

Edge Aviation founder and chief flying instructor Lorraine MacGillivray said the pilot worked as a flight instructor.

“I saw a couple of the family members and like you’d expect, with any families, they are devastated and trying to come to terms with what’s occurred,” Ms MacGillivray told AAP.

“In communities in regional areas like this, there are a lot of people that know each other and stuff like that, so there’s a significant ripple effect, I understand going through those communities.”

She said it would not be appropriate to speculate on the cause of the crash and the aviation community had also been impacted by the tragedy.

“These accidents are always just so tragic and I think that our regulators need to start having a close look at why they’re happening and can we be doing things different,” she added.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash, describing the plane as an “amateur-built light aircraft”.

A team of investigators specialising in aircraft operations and maintenance will probe what happened.

They will examine the wreckage, interview witnesses, comb through flight tracking data, examine other records and take pieces of the aircraft away for further examination in Canberra.