Snowdonia crash: five bodies found in helicopter wreckage

The bodies of five people have been found in Snowdonia in the wreckage of a helicopter that disappeared en route from the UK to Ireland, police have said.

Seven mountain rescue teams, police officers and search dogs were deployed to look for the aircraft in north Wales after it went missing on Wednesday. The flight had five people on board.

The privately owned helicopter vanished from radar screens during a trip from Bedfordshire to Dublin via Caernarfon in north Wales. It is thought it was descending to try to get under low cloud as conditions worsened on Wednesday afternoon.

North Wales police are not revealing the exact location until the bodies are recovered in what the force has described as difficult and challenging terrain.

Two people feared to be on the helicopter are Kevin and Ruth Burke, according to reports. Their identities have not been confirmed by police. The couple are directors of Staske Construction , which is the registered owner of a red Twin Squirrel, and are from Hulcote, near Milton Keynes, close to where the helicopter took off at Luton.

The Press Association reported that a woman who answered the company phone said: “We are not going to talk to you, we are not going to talk to anybody regarding the crash.”

Another neighbour, Richard Mann, 78, told the Press Association both he and Kevin Burke had previously been Hulcote and Salford parish councillors.

“They moved into the house just before Christmas, they have been building it. Kevin, I think, is a very astute businessman, outgoing – hail fellow well met – always seemed very cheery,” he said. He said it had been a “total shock” hearing the news.

Supt Gareth Evans said: “The aircraft, a red Twin Squirrel helicopter, had failed to arrive in Dublin from Luton yesterday afternoon, instigating a full sea and then land search-and-rescue operation.

“Initially, its last known position was believed ‘over sea’ in the Caernarfon Bay area, but this was then narrowed to a land-based search coordinated by North Wales police in Snowdonia involving all local and RAF mountain rescue teams.

“Local conditions were described as atrocious, with visibility down to less than 10 metres in places.”

He added: “Families of those on board the aircraft are being supported by specialist police family liaison officers.”

The incident is being investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

Officials have refused to comment on reports that the helicopter was routinely rented out to film crews.

The coastguard said the helicopter was believed to have left Luton on Wednesday. Air traffic controllers lost radar contact with the helicopter and notified the coastguard at 4.15pm.

Coastguard helicopters based at Caernarfon and St Athan carried out a search of fields and airfields in north Wales and the route across the Irish Sea the helicopter was most likely to have taken.

All vessels passing through the Irish Sea were told to look out for the missing aircraft. On Thursday morning, the coastguard commander Mark Rodaway said the search had moved inland.

The Eurocopter AS355 Écureuil 2, known as the Twin Squirrel, and now made by Airbus, is a widely used twin-engine light utility helicopter, which has a reputation for durability and requiring low maintenance.

Introduced in the mid-1970s, the all-weather aircraft evolved through several variations and has both civil and military applications.

With a cruising speed of 140mph and a range of nearly 440 miles (700km), the model is used for extended low-level flights, such as when filming and surveying.