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Updated 10.38pm
THE BODIES OF a man and a seven-year-old boy have been recovered after a plane crash in Offaly.
Rescue teams recovered the bodies of the pilot and the young child just after 1opm. They have been transferred to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore for post-mortem examinations tomorrow.
The pair were on board a light aircraft that crashed in a bog near Edenderry this afternoon.
Alerts were raised after the parachute club lost radio contact with the pilot, who is understood to be a UK national.
Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of the crash near Clonbullogue Airfield after 3pm.
The plane had been carrying 16 parachutists and took off from Clonbullogue Airfield at 2.35 pm this afternoon.
Gardaí have said that all 16 made the jump from the plane but that witnesses saw the plane crash soon afterwards.
The crashed plane was later located about two kilometres from the airfield the bog land.
The Air Accident Investigation Unit has initiated an investigation.
With reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll
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I was there with my family when it happened. Very sad situation. Hoping for a positive outcome for the pilot and little boy.
@Ciaran Maher: that’s where I jump from – terribly sad hope they are OK
@Alan Long: better off not jumping full stop
@chris c: And not cross the road in case he gets hit by a bus!
Local outlets reporting two fatalities, RIP, very sad.
@Shane Corry: presumed… hopefully not
@rowan hill: They’ve edited the article without comment, the previous version mentioned bodies being removed from the crash site. Strange behaviour, hopefully they weren’t making things up for a few quick clicks about something so serious.
Thoughts and prayers with the pair.
Hope they’ll be ok…
Terribly sad news :( Rest In Peace.
My youngest is 7 years old. My heart is in my mouth here and will be praying for their recovery. Terrible situation.
It’s a little boy I most am sorry for and he should have not in plane no matter what.
@Thosj Carroll: Why should a kid have not been in a plane? Cop on.
@Thosj Carroll: He was going for a spin in a plane which we see all over the world on a daily basis, saying he shouldn’t be in the plane is idiotic.
Very sad. Condolences to the bereaved families.
@Negan Lucille: they are saying “presumed dead” which is a bit premature. Rté reporting it is still a rescue operation at the moment.
Jesus, that’s awful. I’m so sorry, particularly for their families.
Shocking, RIP young man and the pilot.
Awful tragedy at the end of what should have been a wonderful day! Feel sorry for the boy and his father who I believe who was one of the jumpers! A father/son day gone tragically wrong!
R.I.P sad
Pilot would normally have a parachute, but the child would have been his priority and to get the jumpers out!
@William Bryan: Don’t think you’re right there.
@Paul Furey: He’s absolutely right – parachute club pilots always wear parachutes.
Thoughts are with both family and friends, it will be especially hard on the 7 year olds family friends and relations. RIP.
I’ve great memories of Clonbullogue, so sad to hear this
RIP especially to little boy.
@Bren Maher: To provide some balance for other readers here, Bren Maher is pedaling misinformation. Only one of the accidents he’s stating as evidence is actually serious. A serious aviation accident means hull loss and/or serious injury or fatality. Three of his examples don’t match that. The other is a failure of both main and back up parachute which is extremely rare, no aircraft involved. Bren is using these as evidence of the Irish Parachute Club’s negligence being the cause of the accident. However, it seems both the pilot and aircraft were hired from England making Bren’s claims of IPC’s responsibility even more tenuous.
“He said the pilot had been hired by the Irish Parachute Club since their own plane was being serviced. He was from the UK.”
The simple fact of the matter is that the cause of this crash cannot be determined by shouting louder than everyone else on internet forums. It is solely the domain of the investigating authority.
Rip
@Bren Maher: Three accidents where all involved walked away with at the very most, minor injuries. The parachuting accident was extremely freak, the likelihood of it occurring again would be even more freak. It’s rich of you to say to me that I should wait for the accident report when that’s exactly what I’ve been saying you should do all along.
FYI. Making profit on the back of grief is one of the lowest orders of human behaviour.
@Bren Maher@Bren Maher: absolutely despicable. Only a twisted coward would use a fake facebook profile to try gain financially from the deaths of two wonderful people.
And in case anyone is in any doubt, “Bren Maher” has been posting the exact same drivel on various news sites etc.
So, obviously truth does not feature on his agenda, but propaganda does.
A vile creature…..
@Patrick Kearns the Air Accident Investigation Unit will establish the cause of the accident in due course. You should refrain from making so many assumptions and allow the investigation to take its course. The factual Air Accident history which I published is NOT misinformation. The public are well capable of reading the existing accident reports for themselves and will make up their own minds as to what is serious or not. These Air Accidents at the IPC must stop.
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