A pilot miraculously escaped with just cuts and bruises when his micro-light aircraft fell hundreds of feet and crash-landed on a remote Co Donegal island last night.
The pilot, a Brazilian man, lost the power in his engine above Tory Island at around 7pm.
The man was taking in the views when the plane fell from the sky and landed near the island’s lighthouse which is around 11 miles off the mainland.
Locals rushed to the pilot’s aid fearing the worst.
But the man managed to stumble from the wreckage.
King of Tory Island, Patsy Dan Rodgers, said the man thing was that nobody was hurt.
“To be honest it all happened very quickly and the main thing is that nobody was hurt.
“Half of the island didn’t even known anything had happened,” he said.
Locals helped gather the remains of the light aircraft and brought out to the local harbour where it was collect by ferry and brought to the mainland at Magheroarty.
Another local, who asked not to be named said “It was an eventful day but it could have also been a very sad day on the island. Thankfully the pilot is okay.
The plane was quite mangled but it’s a miracle that this man walked away with just a few scrapes and bruises.”