Police confirmed that five bodies were found in the wreckage on Thursday after the helicopter vanished on Wednesday en route from Luton to Dublin.

Police said the victims included Kevin Burke who was a director of Staske Construction and a qualified pilot.

His wife and company secretary Ruth Burke was also on board with three other family members.

Supt. Gareth Evans at North Wales Police said “The aircraft, a red Twin Squirrel helicopter had failed to arrive in Dublin from Luton yesterday afternoon instigating a full sea and then land search and rescue operation.

“Initially, its last known position was believed ‘over sea’ in the Caernarfon Bay area but this was then narrowed to a land based search co-ordinated by North Wales Police in Snowdonia involving all local and RAF Mountain Rescue Teams.

“Local conditions were described as atrocious with visibility down to less than 10 metres in places.My thanks go out to the professionalism and commitment of all those personnel involved in this operation.”