A man in his 50s has died after a light aircraft crashed in County Kilkenny last night.

The plane came down at around 9pm near Gowran, around 7 kilometres from Kilkenny town.

The man was piloting a microlight aircraft when it crash-landed in a field.

Eyewitnesses said it narrowly avoided nearby houses as it came down.

The pilot - a local man and a father of three - was the only person on board the plane.

Gardaí, fire units and several ambulances responded to the crash.

The scene was sealed off overnight, and the Air Accident Investigations Unit (AAIU) sent two inspectors to the crash site.

Leo Murray, inspector of air accidents with the AAIU, explained: "The pilot was the sole occupant, and he was operating from a private strip quite close to the site.

"He had taken off and was doing just a local flight. Sadly, he collided with some electricity lines, electricity poles. [It was] quite a severe impacted."

Main image: File photo, picture by Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA Images