The Wingham man flying the four seater Express on Tuesday afternoon, Neville French and the two passengers Cyrus Ostowari from Hallidays Point and Eugine O'Neil from Old Bar, walked away unharmed.

Mr French said: "We're all okay. We unhooked the door after crashing and walked away with no injuries."

He said no one was experiencing shock or stress and the incident had not put him off flying.

"The plane crashed after we failed to get airborne and then we ran off the end of the airway," he said.

Mr French said crashing into the safer smaller shrubs after realising they would not achieve take-off was a "deliberate act".

"It is better to crash gracefully."

Mr French didn't know why they failed to get airborne.

"We haven't analysed it," he said.

The owner / builder / passenger of the Express aircraft, Mr Ostowari, said the plane was seriously damaged.

He said the wing, landing gear and propeller were all broken, "which means the engine has to be torn down and repaired."

Mr Ostowari said the plane is valued at about $500,000 and took him five years to build.

He said "while his heart goes out it is better to walk away unharmed".

"The most important thing is your life. Physical things don't matter."

Emergency services were called to the scene after a person witnessed the crash.

NSW Rural Fire Service group captain Brian Simpson said four crew members cleaned the area to prevent any fire outbreaks.

"We isolated any danger and put blankets of foam on the area to cover the small fuel spill."