A flight instructor has described the moment he saw a light aircraft plunge into the Cromarty Firth.
Ivan Kinane was leading a flying lesson when he spotted the microlight dropping towards the water near the Black Isle on Saturday.
A major search was launched after he raised the alarm, and to assist rescuers pinpoint the two-man crew he circled the area where the plane went down.
The two men aboard the microlight were rescued from the water near Resolis by a lifeboat team from Invergordon, and were then airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
They were later described as “shocked and hypothermic” but otherwise uninjured.
A lifeboat crewman said that the two were “extremely lucky” that rescue had arrived at the scene so quickly.
The drama unfolded just after 2pm after Mr Kinane noticed the microlight beneath him descending towards the firth.
The light aircraft had taken off from Easterton Airfield in Birnie, near Elgin earlier in the day and was heading west when it ran into problems.
Mr Kinane, a flying instructor for Highland Aviation Flying School at Inverness Airport, said: “We were basically flying over the Black Isle when I saw the microlight. They were quite a lot lower than we were but it’s the kind of thing you watch out for.
“They did this funny manoeuvre and then started going down towards the water. I initially thought that they were doing some low level flying which is common with microlights but they kept going down.
“When it ended up in the water it sort of flipped and then that was that. I reported it and then stayed in the area until help arrived.”
Mr Kinane, who is an experienced flier and former commercial pilot, said the microlight’s descent into the water seemed “controlled” and suggested it may have been a mechanical problem which forced the pilot to ditch.
He said it was “not common practice” to ditch into water but that the pilot may have felt he did not have enough time to reach a suitable landing site.
He added: “They were very lucky. We didn’t hear anything from them so if the plane was not equipped with a radio and we hadn’t been there, it could have taken a long time to find anything and things could have been quite bad.”
After Mr Kinane reported the crash to Aberdeen Coastguard, the Invergordon lifeboat crew was called out.
The damaged plane was found upside down, with the two men having freed themselves but still in the water nearby.
A spokesman for the lifeboat crew said: “It was a fairly serious one for us but we are thankful that both crew are OK.
“We were able to launch fairly quickly and located the upturned aircraft and the two men. They were very cold and shaken and there’s always a risk of hypothermia.
“One of the men had a gash on his head as well but it wasn’t anything too serious.”
The men were rescued from the water and taken aboard the Invergordon lifeboat Douglas Aikman Smith.
They were then winched aboard the Inverness coastguard helicopter Rescue 951 and taken to Raigmore Hospital for further treatment.
The lifeboat spokesman added: “They were extremely lucky that we were able to launch and then find them quickly.
“It could quite easily have been worse.
Calum Christie, of the UK Coastguard said: “Although shocked and hypothermic, the crew were uninjured. It was fortunate that they were spotted by the other aircraft who quickly reported their predicament.
“We were able to get rescue resources on scene swiftly resulting in a positive outcome.”