Pilot killed in NI light plane crash had ‘significant experience’

Air accident investigators are trying to determine the cause of an incident that left a pilot dead after a light plane crashed at Newtownards airfield in Co Down on Tuesday morning.

The PSNI confirmed that a man died after the two-seater aircraft crashed just off the runway of the airfield shortly before 11.30am.

The incident happened shortly after take-off, it is believed.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, which was called to the scene, found the man inside the aircraft. He was not trapped and without major difficulty they were able to take him from the plane. He was rushed to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald in east Belfast.

PSNI Inspector Glen Campbell confirmed that the man died from his injuries. "The Air Accident Investigation Branch have been informed and will be the lead agency in this investigation," he said.

The name of the man who was killed was not being released until his next of kin were informed. It is understood that he is aged in his 60s.

Air accident investigators were at the scene on Tuesday trying to establish what caused the plane to crash.

The DUP MP for Strangford Jim Shannon visited the scene. He offered his condolences to the pilot’s family and said that members of the Ulster Flying Club which runs the airfield were “shaken and distraught” to lose one of their friends.

“This is a very tight family club with a large membership of almost 600 or thereabouts, both seniors and juniors. They are a great bunch of people and the loss of the man is one that is felt very deeply by everyone in the club,” he said.

“How could this happen? That was the question that they were all asking,” added Mr Shannon.

He said the man who died was an experienced pilot with many hours flying time. “I suppose there can be only two reasons for the accident: either aircraft failure or the health of the pilot. But that is only supposition at this time because we don’t know for definite what the outcome of the investigation will be,” said Mr Shannon.