A Dutch naval ship has joined a major search operation today to find a plane which crashed off the Netherlands coast yesterday afternoon after taking off from the UK. The pilot is feared dead.
The plane, believed to be a Cirrus SR20, was heading to Germany when it crashed off the coast at Petten in the province of North Holland shortly before 3pm yesterday.
Dutch Coastguard initially said the plane took off from Norwich Airport and was heading to the German island of Sylt.
But on Tuesday morning, they issued a correction, stating the plane took off from Gloucester and was heading to Osnabruck, Germany.
Norwich Airport said on Tuesday they had no record of the plane landing or departing from the airport.
Dutch police are now investigating the crash.
They said the pilot, a 76-year-old German, was feared dead.
The pilot took off from the Cotswolds yesterday and according to the flight plan was heading for Munster-Osnabruck Airport in Germany.
Just before 3pm it disappeared from radar.
The rescue operation was called off late last night after a search involving divers and boats. It has resumed again this morning, Dutch Coastguard said.
According to reports, some wreckage was recovered but the Dutch Coastguard said this morning that there was no sign of the pilot.
They posted some photos of the rescue operation on Twitter last night.
A Dutch naval ship with special sonar equipment was also part of the search.
It was not clear whether the plane’s parachute had been deployed or if an emergency signal had been sent out before impact.
The Dutch Telegraph said initial reports suggested that there were two people in the aircraft, but it was later confirmed it was just the pilot.
While the cause of the crash is unknown, the weather and visibility at the time were said to be poor and could have caused navigation problems.
The Cirrus SR20 is an American piston-engine and the first general aviation aircraft equipped with a parachute to lower the plane safely to the ground after a loss of control.
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