POLICE have announced the death of a man whose light aircraft crashed on the Black Isle this afternoon.

In a statement released this evening, they said the "gyrocopter" crash had killed the aircraft's "pilot and sole occupant". 

Chief Inspector Jamie Wilson, the local area commander, said: “Around 12.55pm on Thursday, 12 November, 2020, emergency services attended a report of a gyrocopter having crashed in a field near Avoch.

“A man, the pilot and sole occupant of the gyrocopter, was pronounced dead at the scene. His family are aware.

“Enquiries into the incident are ongoing in conjunction with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch."

A gyrocopter differs from a helicopter in that its rotors are not powered. Instead, the thrust comes from a propeller either at the front or rear of the aircraft.

Avoch sits just north-east of Inverness on the north side of the Moray Firth.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said they had been alerted to a "helicopter" crash at around 12:55 this afternoon.

A spokesperson said the incident had occurred between Inverness and Fortrose in the Highland area and that four appliciances had been sent to the scene.

"We remain in attendance", they added at the time.

Highland Council has announced some temporary road closures in the area.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service also confirmed they had attended the scene.

They said: "We received a call today at 12.56pm to attend an incident near Avoch.

"We dispatched two ambulances, a manager, a community responder and the PICT (Pre-hospital Immediate Care & Trauma) team from Inverness to the scene."

An Inverness Coastguard helicopter was also initially called to the incident, but later stood down.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed they were investigating the incident.