A good Samaritan bus driver got himself in a sticky situation after trying to come to the rescue of a bogged plane on Fraser Island off the coast of south-east Queensland.

The light tourist plane got stuck in the sand just north of Eurong, on the island's east coast, as the tide was coming in.

Dozens of tourists watched on as the bus tried to tow it out, without any luck.

The plane managed to get out, but the bus became stuck.

It spent the night in the sand and heavy machinery is being taken to the island this morning to help tow it out.

Heavy machinery has been taken to the island to recover the bus. ( Facebook )

The company towing the bus out this morning said it was bringing a hook truck and excavator over from the mainland.

"When we get there we'll have a bit of a dig around the bus where it sunk into the sand and we'll pull it out," Rainbow Beach Recovery Repairs and Services' Dean Hayes said.

"It's not the first time and unfortunately won't be the last time either," he said.

He said it took about five minutes to pull the bus free.

Mr Hayes said it was an unpredictable landscape to drive on, and even his tow trucks got bogged from time to time.

"The sand conditions change every day, you think its all good and you'll drive into a piece of beach where it's very soft and just get bogged," he said.

The bus spent the night sitting in about a metre of water. ( Facebook )

Mr Hayes said the bus was only about three months old and spent the night sitting in about a metre of water.

"The bus still looks brand new. There was very gentle seas last night so it [the waves] didn't do any damage to the bus," he said.

"But unfortunately the salt water does all the damage."

The bus company, Fraser Explorer Tours, offers day tours across the world heritage listed island.

Fraser Explorer Tours said "local operators on Fraser Island share a great sense of camaraderie".

"The nature of operating a business in a place like Fraser Island is that when a mate is in trouble, you help them out," general manager David Hay said.

The company said the now-recovered bus was not damaged and "there was only minor flooding of the front section".