Missing
 

Plane with nine on board disappears over Atlantic
LISBON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A private plane with nine people
on board disappeared shortly after take off from the Portuguese
island of Madeira for Malaga, Spain, an airport official said
early on Friday.
The twin-engine Beechcraft lost radar contact after taking
off at 9:53 p.m. (2053 GMT) from the Funchal airport on Madeira,
about 600 km (400 miles) west of Morocco, the official said.
The U.S.-registered plane was carrying a British pilot and
eight Spanish passengers. The weather was clear. Rescue teams
searching the Atlantic Ocean off Funchal have found no trace of
the plane or its passengers.

From CNN
 

Fatal plane crash off Madeira
Friday, September 12, 2003 Posted: 0346 GMT (11:46 AM HKT)


-------------------------------

LISBON, Portugal (Reuters) -- A private plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Portuguese island of Madeira and all nine people on board were believed killed, officials said on Friday.

The twin-engine Beechcraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off at 9:53 p.m. (2053 GMT) on Thursday from Funchal airport on Madeira, about 600 km (480 miles) west of Morocco, for Malaga, Spain, a search and rescue spokesman said.

The U.S.-registered plane was carrying a British pilot and eight Spanish passengers. Rescue teams found wreckage off Funchal and recovered the bodies of two men and a woman.

"We feel that all the passengers and the pilot died," the spokesman said. The weather was good and the cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Here's the Aircraft at Madeira International Airport ( Portugal ) :

http://simulator.zapto.org/n600bv/N600BV_01.jpg
http://simulator.zapto.org/n600bv/N600BV_02.jpg
http://simulator.zapto.org/n600bv/N600BV_03.jpg
http://simulator.zapto.org/n600bv/N600BV_04.jpg
http://simulator.zapto.org/n600bv/N600BV_05.jpg

Photos by Jorge Abreu

N600BV
 

Sad to hear about this. I have been been based in Malaga on and off now for coming 4 years and seen this aircraft and met with someof the people involved many a times.

This was a speacial mission King Air equipment out of this world that included remote Sensing Equipment:

· VHF-UHF SAR / SRI International _ Profiling and SAR modes

· HSI / ITRES CASI II _ 288 bands, 512 pixels 1.2 mrad resolution

· Thermal IR / Daedelus _ 3-5 plus 8-14 micron 1 mrad resolution

· Camera / SRI International _ Kodak 460 digital

Aircraft was modified for sensors including radar, hyperspectral imager, and thermal infrared scanner

It could be used for all of the following jobs:

· UXO (Unexploded Ordnance Detection)

· Toxic Waste Detection

· Humanitarian Demining

· Agriculture Studies

· Forest Resource & Inventory

· Urban & Engineering Studies

· General Database Development etc

Though I doubt that any of this equipment was installed on this flight...

JJ

Madeira accident
 

According to "Airwise" today, all ten people on board a leisure flight were believed to have died when the aircraft crashed off the island of Madeira in the Atlantic.

Early details: http://news.airwise.com/display/stor...063710086.html

Operated by:

Sky Environmental Mapping Services, LLC
1068 East Main
Ashland, Oregon 97520

Hi,

Sorry to bring this back to life, but i can seem to find an investigation report to this accident. Anyone aware of one?

Many Thanks