An extended family has been “changed forever” after losing two teenage brothers and their young cousin in a devastating light plane crash in Victoria.

Brothers Luke and Benny Smith, aged 20 and 16, and their cousin Dusty Daly, 15, have been named as the victims of the aviation accident in East Gippsland on Saturday.

The plane was being piloted by Luke, who was said to be an experienced and “diligent” pilot and flying instructor.

It was seen circling over Tinamba West – with witnesses describing a strange engine noise – before crashing into a paddock and bursting into flames at about 5.45pm.

The family issued a statement confirming the terrible loss. The pilot and his brother were from Tongala, in central Victoria, and their cousin from Tinamba West.

“This is an incredibly difficult time for our family, and we kindly request privacy as we navigate through our grief,” a statement to the Herald Sun said.

“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this loss, and we ask for your understanding as we focus on supporting one another during this challenging period.

“We are grateful for the love and support from friends, family, and the community at large.

“Thank you for your respect and compassion.”

Luke Smith was an experienced pilot. Photo: Supplied

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

“These families’ lives have been changed forever yesterday,” she said.

“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.

“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 was also affected 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 said.

“We’re in a state in the industry at the moment where we are looking at training, we’re looking at maintenance, we’re looking at particularly loss-of-control flight accidents,” she said.

“I met these young men – my heart absolutely aches for their families whose lives are changed forever.

“I’ve been working on this situation with the training standard for some time with my daughter, and we are looking at the training syllabus and we are rewriting and examining a lot of things to find out why these accidents are happening and try to prevent them from occurring in the future.

“It’s got to stop – and we can’t prevent every accident anymore than we can prevent every car accident – but we have to damn well try.”

Passenger Dusty Daly was the pilot’s cousin. Photo: Supplied

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.

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

Locals posted on Facebook that the plane had sounded unusual at it flew overhead.

Maffra resident Debbie Bedggood told The Age she was sitting at home and noticed the plane fly east and then west.

“We just knew it didn’t sound like a normal engine flying over,” Bedggwood said.

“The engine was revving and making a weird noise. We said it didn’t sound right. As we watched it fly off, we said: ‘We hope it lands OK.’ Not long after that, we got the notification about the crash.

“I didn’t get much sleep, I’ve just been thinking about these poor guys and their families, and the first responders. It just breaks your heart.”

Anyone who saw what happened or has photos and video has been asked to come forward.

-with AAP