Police worked to recover wreckage of the plane on Monday, 

Far South Coast police crime manager Detective Inspector Kevin McNeil said recreational divers found the wreckage on Saturday in water about 20 metres deep off Barlings Beach.

He confirmed the remains of missing Mossy Point man Ralph Buchanan were recovered by police on Sunday and police had been in contact with his family.

Mr McNeil said the plane was "badly damaged" and police were not sure how it would hold up through the recovery process.

It is understood Water Police and a boat from Roads and Maritime Services are involved in the recovery effort.

Recreational Aviation Australia will examine the construction of the home-built plane, once the wreckage is recovered.

Recreational Aviation Australia president Michael Monck said only small parts of the plane had so far been recovered and the organisation  was working closely with police.

Mr Monck said it was unlikely the crash was due to pilot error.

"The pilots in the crash were both very experienced, well-regarded, one was a very experienced well regarded instructor," he said.

"At this stage there is no reason to think it was anything to do with the pilots.

"We'll be looking at things like the construction of the plane, materials used, and even records, the maintenance and so forth.

"Hopefully we'll be able to point to a likely cause of the accident."

Mr Monck said a cause of the crash could become apparent as soon as the wreckage was inspected, or it could take weeks.

"We might engage the services of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, they've got people with qualifications in metallurgy and engineering," he said.

"It just depends on what we find. There might be a very obvious cause.

"In general we are trying to get findings out as quickly as possible. We use the findings to improve safety in aviation."

More details as they come to hand.

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