Two people on board a plane that crashed in South Africa on Tuesday are members of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Albion Park Rail.

Two people were killed and another 18 were injured, including the Australian pilots, in the crash near Pretoria, the nation's administrative capital.

Reports indicate that A380 captains Douglas Haywood and Ross Kelly, the latter recently retired, were  injured when the vintage Convair CV-340 aircraft crashed while carrying 19 people on Tuesday. Both men are members of the Illawarra’s HARS and remain in a critical condition in Johannesburg Hospital.

Mr Kelly's wife, Lyndal, was also on board and reported to be in a stable condition on Wednesday. 

"We were deeply upset to learn that two Qantas pilots, one current and one retired, were on board the vintage aircraft involved in an accident in South Africa on Tuesday," a Qantas spokesman told The Australian newspaper.

The paper said it was unknown whether the duo were passengers or part of the flight crew. The majority on board were pilots, enthusiasts or engineers with the plane being prepared for transport to a museum in the Netherlands.

The short flight from Wonderboom Airport to Pilanesberg is believed to have been a weight test for the aircraft before it flew to its new home.

South African flight engineer Chris Barnard died in the crash while a factory worker on the ground was injured and died early on Wednesday, it was revealed.

When approached on Tuesday night, HARS president Bob De La Hunty said he was unable to make a comment at this stage.

Read more: HARS flies its iconic planes Connie and Convair to Avalon Air Show