Local emergency services posted a picture on Twitter showing passengers being helped from the burning wreckage of a plane in a grassy field.

The authorities said they were investigating the cause of the crash.

The Convair plane, built in 1954, was due to be sent to an air museum in The Netherlands. It crashed during "take-off on a test flight", the museum said.

It was "hugely shocked" by Tuesday's crash, the Aviodrome aerospace theme park said in a statement.

The plane crashed near a small airport, Wonderboom, in Pretoria.

A private medical emergency company, ER24, said one passenger died on the scene.

"The remaining patients with their injuries ranging from minor to critical have been treated, provided with advanced-life support intervention and transported by road ambulances, as well as medical helicopters, to nearby hospitals," ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said.

The aircraft was marked "Martin's Air Charter", which was the previous name of the Dutch cargo airline Martinair. The name was changed in 1966.