Two people perched on the wing in the water

Kelly Williams-LE, Robert Harries Senior Reporter, Matt Jackson Live News Network Reporter and Kelly Williams

17:45, 27 Jun 2026Updated 18:13, 27 Jun 2026

An aircraft, potentially a drone, is partially submerged in a body of water, possibly the ocean, with the wings above the water surface.

Two casualties were brought ashore(Image: RNLI Fishguard)

A dramatic rescue mission was launched after an aircraft crashed into the Irish Sea. Two individuals were brought to safety following a small plane’s emergency landing just off the Welsh shore on Friday evening.

The incident occurred near Cardigan Island, an uninhabited wildlife reserve located off Gwbert’s coastline in south Wales, close to the Cliff Hotel and Spa. A microlight – a lightweight, fixed-wing or weight-shift aircraft – plummeted into Cardigan Bay after experiencing difficulties around 6pm yesterday evening, coastguards confirmed.

Emergency services subsequently found two occupants from the downed aircraft at sea, sitting on the plane’s wing.

Both passengers were brought to shore by lifeboat and handed over to Welsh Ambulance Service staff who had arrived at the scene alongside RNLI crews from New Quay and Cardigan plus a coastguard rescue helicopter, reports the Daily Star.

An emergency medical services vehicle is parked next to a yellow boat and a white van in an outdoor area, with a stone wall and a blue canopy in the background. Several individuals are present, some of whom are standing near the boat.

Rescue crews attended the scene(Image: New Quay Lifeboat station)

Coastguard authorities have not yet disclosed details regarding any possible injuries sustained by the pair on board, though it’s understood they avoided serious injury from the incident.

A coastguard spokesperson said: “We received a report at around 6pm on Friday of a microlight, with two people on board, that had ditched into the water approximately nine nautical miles north west of Cardigan Island, Pembrokeshire.

“A coastguard rescue helicopter, RNLI lifeboats from Fishguard, New Quay, and Cardigan, and the ambulance service were all sent. The two people were located sitting on the wing of the microlight.

“They were recovered by a lifeboat and taken to shore where they were passed into the care of the ambulance service.”

An orange rescue vessel is navigating through choppy waters, with individuals aboard equipped with safety gear, indicative of a potential rescue operation or maritime patrol activity.

(Image: New Quay Lifeboat station)

This comes in the wake of a pilot losing their life in a light aircraft crash near Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon on Friday morning.

Emergency services, comprising police, firefighters, paramedics and an air ambulance, rushed to the scene after the incident was reported at approximately 10am that morning.

The pilot, believed to be a woman in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Devon and Cornwall Police.

Officers confirmed the force would continue to liaise with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, while urging members of the public to refrain from speculating about the circumstances surrounding the crash.

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