THE BODIES of a man, a woman, their teenage son and their son's friend were recovered yesterday from the wreckage of a light aircraft which crashed in the Wicklow mountains on Saturday.
The victims were flying in poor weather from Gloucester airport in England to the private Kilrush air strip in Co Kildare.
The adults who died were named last night as Sharif Booz, a property developer and pilot from Bristol, and his wife Margaret. Their son and his friend have not yet been officially named.
The aircraft was last in touch with air traffic controllers in Dublin at 12.17pm on Saturday when, according to the Irish Aviation Authority, they were handed over to the Kilrush frequency. However, they never arrived in Kilrush and it was only when a relative expressed concern on Saturday evening that the alarm was raised. It is understood they were on their way to visit relatives near Newbridge in Co Kildare.
A spokeswoman for the aviation authority said that when radar tapes were reviewed they were able to establish the last-known position of the aircraft near Poulaphouca at about 12.30pm on Saturday.
Using this and information from a hillwalker, gardaí, assisted by mountain rescue teams and the Air Corps, mounted a massive search at first light yesterday and the wreckage was discovered in a remote area south of Hollywood. Personnel from the emergency services were airlifted to the crash site and shortly after 4pm the four bodies were recovered.