Police have named the pilot of a light aircraft which crashed close to the Ptarmigan restaurant on Cairn Gorm.

Worcestershire businessman Gary Key’s Piper Saratoga narrowly missed the packed resort before smashing into the mountainside near the funicular railway. The body of the 45-year-old, from Bewdley, was recovered from the wreckage.

The pilot, the only occupant of the plane, was en route for Wick after refuelling at Carlisle, ready for a transatlantic flight. He got into difficulties in a blizzard and was flying south to try to make an emergency landing at Dyce.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with him just before 11am on Saturday. He had reported that his wings had started to ice up.

An Air Accident Investigation Branch team is looking for the cause of the crash.