He launched his first “Mayday” at 10:20 a.m. The pilot, a man in his fifties, had taken off from Poitiers earlier this Sunday morning aboard a tourist plane. In difficulty, he tried to land at La Rochelle airport and then in a field, reports France 3. He was finally forced to land in the open sea. During the maneuver, the plane would have pirouetted before sink immediately.
The pilot, conscious, was able to leave the cockpit, before being very quickly rescued at sea by a yachtsman, 5 km from the coast. He was the only passenger on board. He was then taken care of by volunteers from the SNSM (association of lifeguards at sea). According to the emergency services, the pilot is shocked, in a state of hypothermia, but unscathed.
“It does not happen every day, told France 3 the communication cell of the Premar (maritime prefecture). This type of rescue after a plane crash is not common. “According to information provided by Premar this Sunday, the rescues at sea carried out by the SNSM mainly concern “boats in distress”.
The pilot was in a Cessna. Brought back by the emergency services to Saint-Martin-de-Ré, he was admitted to the hospital center in La Rochelle. The reasons for the crash remain unknown.
In mid-June, three people died in the crash of a passenger plane 15 km from Bordeaux. A few days later, two people died in the same circumstances in Haute-Savoie.