Sunday, June 19, 2011

Two Britons killed in plane crash

map of France showing Mont AgelThe Briton's plane crashed on Mont Agel on the French Riviera

A British couple have died in a light plane crash in the south of France.

James and Jacqueline Balmer are understood to have been flying from an airport in Italy to Troyes, some 80 miles south-east of Paris, when the plane crashed on Friday.

Wreckage from the plane, which had been piloted by Mr Balmer, was discovered on Mont Agel, just north of Monaco.

A Foreign office spokesman said next of kin had been informed and consular assistance was being provided.

According to local reports, the twin engine Piper PA-39 had taken off just after 0900 BST (10am local time) on Friday but lost all radar contact at 1028 BST (1128 local time).

French news reports said a witness had reported a plane flying at "very low altitude" at around midday and alerted the emergency services.

The region was blanketed in fog at the time, which reports suggested could have forced the six-seater aircraft to fly "very low" before it crashed on private property at an altitude of 814m (2670ft).

French authorities launched a sea and air search operation, using helicopters and a naval minesweeper.

The wreckage was located after a four-hour search on Mont Agel at around 1440 BST (1540 local time), a spokesman for the Nice-Montagne prefecture said.

A high mountain patrol was sent to the area to recover the bodies of of Mr Balmer, 68, and his wife, 54, from Cirencester, in Gloucestershire. They were taken to a forensics laboratory in the nearby city of Nice.

Their nationality was established through information stored on their mobile phones, french officials said.

This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-13823227

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