Small plane crashes in Waterford

A small civil plane has crashed in Co Waterford.

Multiple emergency service crews are responding to the incident near Tramore.

The crash occurred at about 12.50pm on Thursday.

An Garda Siochana confirmed the incident in a statement.

It said the crash involved a “light aircraft”, while air crash investigators said it was a “twin-engined general aviation aircraft”.

A spokesman said: “As this is a live and ongoing operation, no further information is available at this time.”

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport is investigating the incident with the emergency services and the Irish Aviation Authority.

The AAIU said it is deploying four air accident inspectors to the site near Lisselan, outside Tramore.

Online flight-tracking websites show the privately owned Vulcanair P68C was flying between Sligo and Beziers, in France, when it turned around off the south coast of Ireland and headed back towards Waterford Airport before the crash.

Sinn Fein TD for Waterford David Cullinane said a rescue helicopter was among emergency services responding to the crash.

He said it was a “shock” to the local area, adding that the community’s thoughts are with whoever was on the plane.