All Three Occupants Lost

French authorities are investigating the crash of a Piper Seneca (illustration of type below) that went down in the Alps near Grand Veymont.

European media reports say on Saturday the aircraft departed Shoreham Airport in West Sussex, Great Britain -- where it is believed to be based -- bound for Cannes in the French Riviera. Reportedly, the aircraft impacted the side of a mountain during a snowstorm.

Secretary general of the prefecture in the Alpine Isere region Gilles Barsacq told the London Evening Standard the pilot contacted air traffic control around 14:00 local reporting trouble. The plane disappeared from radar shortly thereafter.

Rescue choppers mounted an immediate search, but weather turned them back until later that evening. Although the effort involved the use of five aircraft throughout the night, the crash site was eventually found by a team afoot around midday Sunday.

Rescuers found three bodies believed to be a couple and their child.

The police have yet to release the victim's names, but French officials have indicated a US passport was found in the wreckage.

Shoreham Airport manager John Haffenden told the UK paper The Argus, "The plane certainly flew regularly from here to other airports both in the UK and abroad. I knew who they were but I haven't been given any information to allow their identities to be released."

Authorities in both the UK and France are working with their respective US embassies to confirm the nationalities and identities of the pilot and his passengers.

FMI: www.usembassy.org.uk, www.amg-usa.fr