Galway plane crashed on way to hospice fundraiser

Two people, a man and a woman, suffered injuries when the Cessna aircraft came down in a field close to Killimordaly GAA club in Co Galway at lunchtime on Saturday.

The pair, both aged in their sixties, were taken to University College Hospital in Galway where they are being treated for their injuries. One was airlifted from the crash site and the other taken by ambulance.

They had taken off from Rathcoole Aerodrome in Cork on Saturday morning to travel to Roscommon where the Tibohine Flying Club near Frenchpark were staging a ‘fly-in’ to raise funds from Mayo/Roscommon Hospice.

A spokesperson for the Tibohine Flying Club said he did not wish to comment on the incident in Galway but confirmed that the charity event had gone ahead as planned.

Three inspectors from the Air Accident Investigation Unit attended the crash site on Saturday afternoon and the aircraft, which suffered considerable damage to the front, has been taken to their wreckage facility at Gormanstown in Co Meath.

Fire crews from Athenry and Loughrea were among the emergency services which rushed to the scene and they doused the aircraft in foam.

A Garda investigation has also been launched.

The pilot of the Cessna had been in regular contact with air traffic control, confirming their location over Loughrea and also their estimated time in Roscommon shortly before contact was lost.

An air traffic controller appealed for radio silence from other pilots as attempts were made to contact the Cessna.

The alarm was raised when the aircraft came down in a farmer’s field a short distance from a road in Killimordaly and emergency services were quickly on the scene.