Mon, Feb 12, 2007
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.
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