Gardai have recovered two bodies after a plane carrying a group of people embarking on parachute jumps crashed in Clonbullogue, County Offaly.  

The pilot, believed to be from the UK, was visiting the Irish Parachute Club. 

The light aircraft, a Cessna Caravan, was carrying 16 parachute jumpers from the club.

The crash happened shortly after 2.30pm. According to reports, the plane went down immediately after the 16 parachuters jumped from the aircraft. 

It is understood that the father of the seven-year-old boy is originally from Poland but lives in Dublin. The Irish Times reports that the man is a regular jumper with the club.

The plane crashed about two kilometres from Clonbullogue Airfield and was located in bog land between Edenderry and Daingean.

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An eye witness described the plane descending “like a torpedo” before it crashed.

Another local man, Jimmy Slattery, witnessed the crash while out walking his dog.

"It came vertically down, there was no wavering or anything," he told RTÉ's Nine O'Clock news.

"The engine was roaring. When it got near tree line I could see the tail move a bit. I heard a thump then."

Clonbullogue Airfield is a small Irish airport owned and operated by the Irish Parachute Club (IPC). Six aircraft are based at the field, most of them owned by the IPC.

The club was founded in 1956 by wartime paratrooper Freddie Bond.