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captwannabe
25th May 2006, 17:47
Two killed as aircraft crashes in Westmeath Air accident investigators were tonight examining the wreckage of a light aircraft in which two men died when it crashed into a field in Co Westmeath.
The Cessna 150 plane got into difficulty while on a flight from Weston Aerodrome in Dublin and crashed in an open field near the village of Raharney, Co Westmeath, around 10am today.
The two 36-year-old Dublin men on board died on impact.
They were both experienced pilots: one was a flying instructor and the other was about to become a flying instructor.
The Department of Transport said its air accident investigation unit had removed the wreckage of the plane to its facility in Gormanstown, Co Meath, for analysis.
It will carry out tests in an attempt to discover the reason for the crash. A builder who was working near the field, said the plane looked as if it had snapped in half when it hit the ground.
"We couldn't really see much, the cabin was crushed. All I could really see was one person in there. He didn't seem to be moving. We were told to stay clear of the aircraft because of the fumes," he told a FM radio station.
Local fire engines, ambulances and police were called to the crash site on the Riverside road to Raharney, which is about 10 miles from Mullingar, the main town in County Westmeath.
A local priest gave the last rites to the two men.
Their bodies were taken from the scene to Mullingar General Hospital and their families were notified.
They are believed to have worked at the National Flight Centre (NFC) in Weston Aerodrome, which has been training people to fly privately commercially for more than 25 years.
The NFC said it would be releasing a statement on the crash. The Cessna 150 is a two-seater aircraft which is used all over the world to train pilots.