Two people have died after a light aircraft (type and registration unknown) crashed in a remote area of North Wales while flying to Caernarfon Airport.
North Wales Police were alerted shortly after 12:00 BST when the aircraft, which had departed from an airfield in England, failed to arrive at Caernarfon as scheduled.
A major multi-agency search involving both air and ground teams was launched. The wreckage was subsequently located near Trawsfynydd, close to Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd.
Both occupants of the aircraft were pronounced dead at the scene.
Chief Superintendent Owain Llewellyn of North Wales Police described the response as a “challenging search operation” and expressed his condolences to the families and friends of those killed.
Investigators from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) have been deployed to the crash site and will investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident.
North Wales Police said it would continue supporting the AAIB as investigators work to establish what caused the aircraft to crash.