Updated at 3.20pm

FOUR OCCUPANTS OF a light plane that crash landed near the Galway town of Portumna on Christmas Eve “got a taxi on to Limerick” according to witnesses.

The light ‘Piper’ aircraft caught fire in mid-air, according to the Irish Coast Guard.

Shortly after 2pm on Wednesday, the emergency service received a call from Shannon Air Traffic Control alerting them to the incident, and warning that the craft was expected to crash land around 3 miles east of Portumna, in Co Tipperary.

The Rescue 115 helicopter was dispatched from Shannon, and the Clare-based Killaloe Coast Guard Unit was also scrambled.

The plane was already on the ground in a large field by the time the Coast Guard helicopter arrived, minutes later, and all four occupants were found to be safe and well.

The fire, said to have been small, had extinguished itself.

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After speaking with authorities, the pilot and passengers of the plane made their way from the scene after calling a taxi, and headed towards Limerick.

Killaloe Coast Guard members, who were almost at the scene, were stood down by Coast Guard control.

RTÉ News reports that two parents in their 30s and their two young children were on board the plane, and that the father was piloting the craft.

(Updated at 3.20pm to clarify that the pilot spoke with authorities before leaving the scene. Apologies for lack of clarity in earlier article — DB).

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