Police say there were no survivors after a light plane bound for northern NSW crashed into a paddock outside Canberra.

The five-seater Cirrus departed Canberra Airport about 2.35pm en route to Armidale but vanished from radar screens 16 minutes later.

Emergency services found the plane alight in a paddock in Gundaroo, on the western edge of Lake George, extinguished the blaze and established a crime scene.

Superintendent Cath Bradbury said from the crash scene investigators were still to confirm how many people were on board but “unfortunately, there are no survivors”.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been notified and is due to attend the scene.

Flight information shows the single-engine aircraft arrived in Canberra on Wednesday after travelling via Armidale from Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.

It was registered to a company owned and operated by an experienced amateur pilot based in Brisbane.

Inspectors from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau were on their way to the scene.

-with AAP