Staff reporter
The pilot’s body and some of the debris of a small aircraft that disappeared on Friday, 19 December, 2014 when flying from Guadeloupe to Martinique were found on Saturday off the coast of Martinique. According to the authorities in Martinique, the pilot’s wife is still missing.
The first debris was located around 17:45, about 10km off Le Prêcheur, a town in the north of Martinique, and the pilot’s body was found close by.
The pilot was a member of ‘Les Ailes Guadeloupéennes’ air club in Guadeloupe. They club reported one of their aircrafts missing on Friday during a “private flight”. According to the air club the pilot was Cyril Sanchez, a 41 year-old member of the club.
Reports say the plane, a Piper PA-28-181 was “in perfect flying condition and regularly maintained”. It departed Guadeloupe on Friday afternoon for the 1h15min flight to Martinique, and lost contact with Lamentin control tower (in Martinique) shortly before landing.
Searches involving aerial, marine and terrestrial French rescue forces began on Friday evening. The French Aerial Transportation Gendarmerie have begun an investigation into the crash.
