A plane carrying members of a parachute club crashed in southern Poland killing 11 people.

Rescue workers said only one of the 12 people on board survived and had suffered serious injuries.

Eleven people have been killed when the Polish plane carrying members of a parachute club crashed near Czestochowa (photo AP)

The Piper Navajo light aircraft had just taken off from an airfield in Rudniki near Czestochowa. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

Witnesses said the plane’s engines had made an odd, droning sound before it began to fall from the sky.

Police spokeswoman Joanna Lazar said local people had helped to rescue the sole survivor.

“We have established that just after the crash local residents came running towards the wreckage and helped to save one of the passengers from the plane. A 40-year-old man was taken to hospital.”

Polish police and prosecutors have launched an investigation into the crash.