THE sole survivor of a private plane that crashed off Cherbourg is thought to own a boat moored in the QE2 Marina. Mark Wilkinson, 48, from Brigstock, Northants, was released from the Louis Pasteur hospital on the French coast and flew home yesterday evening.
Harbour master Captain Peter Gill said: ‘I can say that a man called Mark Wilkinson does own a boat called Sea Ray and that boat is in the harbour.
He would not comment further given the situation of the boat’s owner.
Two men died in the crash of the American-registered light plane on Wednesday morning.
One of the men is believed to be the pilot Rodney Bardham, 65, from Daventry, and the other, co-pilot Christopher Davis, is also thought to be from the West Midlands.
A French Navy vessel is searching the waters between Alderney and Cherbourg, five nautical miles from Cherbourg where the eight-seater Beechcraft 58P crashed on route from Coventry to Lorient, southern Brittany, with a planned refuelling stop in Guernsey.
A French public prosecutor said: ‘The wreckage of the plane has been located 45 metres deep.
‘A boat from Marine Nationale will go to the accident zone in the next days. It seems possible to dive for further investigations.’
A spokeswoman for Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: ‘The French authorities are investigating this matter and the AAIB will obviously be assisting them.’
The twin-engine private plane left Coventry at 9.12am.
Port engine failure was reported to Jersey control tower, which tracks the Channel Island zone, at 10.08am and a mayday call followed at 10.30am.
A navy helicopter was scrambled, followed by a French Customs helicopter based in Le Havre, a navy public control boat from Cherbourg and a police patrol boat. A diver from the navy helicopter recovered the bodies.
Mr Wilkinson was rescued by the navy public control service.
Article posted on 25th January, 2008 - 12.00am
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