Body recovered after light aircraft crashes into sea

A body has been recovered off the Pembrokeshire coast following the crash of a light aircraft which left Weston Aerodrome in …

A body has been recovered off the Pembrokeshire coast following the crash of a light aircraft which left Weston Aerodrome in Dublin for Cardiff on Sunday.

The couple aboard the Piper UK-registered Cherokee single engine aircraft were named by Welsh police yesterday as Edward Reilly (63) and his wife Caroline Reilly (60), with an address at Cowbridge near Cardiff.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh police said one body had been found, as had wreckage of the aircraft.

The couple had spent Saturday night in Dublin prior to departing from Weston Aerodrome at midday on Sunday.

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A spokesman at the aerodrome said they were not regular users of Weston Aerodrome.

The aircraft had enough fuel for four hours when it left the aerodrome.

The aircraft was due to arrive at Cardiff before 3pm but radar contact was lost prior to that.

A search and rescue operation co-ordinated from RAF Kinloss in Scotland was put into effect later on Sunday involving Milford Haven Coastguard, Rosslare Lifeboat, a Sea King rescue helicopter, two lifeboats from Pembrokeshire and an RAF Nimrod aircraft.

A body was recovered yesterday and a spokeswoman for Milford Haven coastguard said the search and rescue phase of the operation was complete.

A spokeswoman for Dyfed Powys police in Wales said yesterday that relatives of the couple had been contacted.

Because of the circumstances of the recovery of the body, she declined to say whether it was male or female.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times