Search in Irish Sea for missing light aircraft

A major search operation was under way in the Irish Sea last night for a light aircraft with two people on board which left Dublin at lunchtime.

The single-engine Piper Cherokee, which was registered in the UK, took off from Weston Aerodrome at 12.15pm heading for Cardiff.

It was due to land at Cardiff just before 3pm, but the alarm was raised after it failed to arrive. The search was last night concentrated off the Welsh coast based on the final sightings of the aircraft on radar at around 1.30 pm.

It was being co-ordinated from RAF Kinloss in Scotland and involved helicopters, a plane, lifeboats and a warship.

RAF Rescue Centre spokesman Michael Mulford said weather conditions were "pretty bad" for flying yesterday afternoon. "You had everything you don't want, fog, mist, heavy rain and severe turbulence.

"What you imagine most pilots would do is consider whether they could go round it or over it or turn back.

"What we don't know is what they decided to do."

An Irish marine rescue helicopter, a naval service vessel as well as an RAF Nimrod aircraft and a Sea King rescue helicopter were involved in the search.

Lifeboats from St Davids and Fishguard in Pembrokeshire were also involved in the operation and ferries crossing the Irish Sea were asked to be on the look-out.