The two people hospitalised after an aircraft plummeted into the Cromarty Firth earlier this afternoon are said to be “safe and well”.
The Invergordon lifeboat, the Inverness Coastguard helicopter – Rescue-951, and the police launched a search and rescue operation after the microlight – a form of hang glider – went down in the waters near Evanton at about 2pm.
The two people on board the aircraft were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Aberdeen Coastguard – which led the operation – was alerted by the police after a separate aircraft saw the microlight fall from the skies close to Evanton.
The microlight took off from the Easterton Airfield in Birnie, near Elgin, earlier on in the day.
A spokesman for the coastguard said: “Both crew members from the microlight were taken to Raigmore Hospital. They were in a good condition when they got to Raigmore. They were quite safe and well. They were in good nick.
“The search and rescue side of things, that is now finished and it is up to the police to investigate.”
“We got the call here from the police at 2.15pm and I believe the original call had come from another aircraft that had seen it and had contacted air traffic control.
“A lifeboat from Invergordon remains on scene at the moment with the wreckage.”
Police Scotland have been made aware of the incident and are assisting the coastguard with the search.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “We have been made aware of the microlight at the Cromarty Firth. it is a coastguard led operation. It happened at the back of 2pm.”