Man dead after gyrocopter hits powerlines near Melbourne

A man has died and another has suffered serious injuries after their gyrocopter slammed into powerlines near Melbourne this afternoon.

The homemade helicopter crashed just before 12.30pm at Cannons Creek, about 60km southeast of Melbourne.

Emergency services believe the chopper clipped the powerlines - which caused outages in some areas - before crashing into water nearby.

Witnesses to the crash paddled out into the estuary and dragged the injured man, aged in his 30s, out of the wreckage.

The other man, aged in his 50s, was trapped in the wreck and emergency services later confirmed he had died.

The deceased’s family arrived at the scene a short time later and watched in horror as emergency services continued their work.

The injured man was taken to hospital in a stable but serious condition.