Plane explodes at Cromwell airfield

Volunteer firefighters were called to douse an aircraft in flames in Cromwell on Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called to the airstrip adjacent to State Highway 6 and beside the town's race course a little after 7am.

People close to the scene describe hearing a series of loud bangs, similar to that of a shotgun.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift leader says two trucks and crews from the local brigade arrived at the airstrip to find a small two-seater plane fully engulfed in flames.

They say no one was in the plane when the crews arrived.

The blaze was extinguished and the fire service remained at the scene for approximately 50 minutes, before leaving things "in the hands of the owner".

The shift leader says no other emergency services attended and there were no injuries.

The callout comes as the Cromwell fire brigade celebrates 150 years of operation.

Main image: Firefighting crews in Cromwell work to extinguish a small aircraft that caught alight just after 7am on Sunday.