CRASH investigators are studying the wreckage of a light aircraft which came down in bad weather, killing both pilots.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) spent the day at the accident scene near a Perthshire village in an effort to establish what caused the plane to come down enroute to Dundee Airport on Sunday.
The wreckage will be transferred to the AAIB base in Farnborough, Surrey, while investigations are carried out.
On board were John MacKinnon, 53, who has been described as an experienced private pilot and garage owner from Ross-shire, and Andrew Thompson, 37, from Chester. He is thought to be a successful businessman.
The small plane is understood to have been en route from Inverness to the airport when it lost communication with air traffic control around midday. The aircraft was four miles west of Dundee airport when contact dropped out. The wreckage was found on farmland outside the village of Abernyte.
Emergency services were called to search the area, leading to the discovery of the wreckage at around 4pm on Sunday. Police subsequently confirmed that both occupants had been found dead inside.
Police Scotland named the men in a statement on Monday, but stressed that formal identification is yet to take place.
In a statement, the force said: "Police Scotland, along with partner agencies continue to carry out investigations into the death of two men following an aircraft crash that happened near Abernyte, Perthshire on Sunday afternoon.
"Whilst formal identification is yet to take place, it is understood that the occupants of the light aircraft, which left Inverness airport on Sunday, were 37-year-old Andrew Thompson from Chester and 53-year-old John MacKinnon from Ross-shire.
"Officers continue to liaise with both families and they have requested that their privacy is respected at this difficult time.
"Emergency services were called to search the area on Sunday following information that communication with the aircraft had been lost, leading to the discovery of the wreckage near Abernyte later that day.
"Joint investigations to establish the full circumstances of the crash will continue and formal identifications of both deceased will take place in due course.
As with all sudden deaths a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal."
Investigators from the
Weather was reportedly poor at the time it went missing, with heavy rain, fog and wind gusts up to 35mph.
A major ground and air search was launched for the plane, involving police, coastguard teams and the RAF.
Dundee Airport, on the shore of the Firth of Tay, is a popular base in the area for light aircraft enthusiasts.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the make and model of plane the men were piloting.
The tragedy comes less than a month after a couple were killed when their light aircraft crashed into a hillside in Argyll as they were flying to Tiree to spend the Easter weekend with family.
David Rous, a civil engineer, and his wife Margaret Ann, a GP originally from Tiree, died when their PA28 Piper Cherokee light aircraft crashed into a remote hillside at Bein Nan Lus, near Oban, on April 4.
The Dundee couple, both in their 30s, had planned to spend the weekend with Mrs Rous's mother and sister on Tiree.
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