PA28 ditched off Guernsey
 

BBC News - Aircraft ditches in English Channel

Breaking on the BBC now, hope the two onboard are all right.

Edit: BBC now saying that it was flying in from Lee-on-Solent, owned by Alderney Flying Training.

Wow
 

Interesting day to decide to go flying. The tafs have been crap all day.

Hope they were wearing life jackets :( hope they turn up ok...

EGJA 121405Z 1215/1219 11015KT 9999 FEW003 BKN025

TAF for Alderney doesn't look too bad... Crash happened about 1550 apparently.

Interesting day to decide to go flying. The tafs have been crap all day.

With respect Mr Paul, the TAFs weren't that bad. We don't know about the ratings held by the pilot or the equipment on board the aircraft. I would have happily made that journey today, with an option to divert to Bournemouth or Guernsey.

BBC reporting wife picked up from life raft but husband missing.

The following have been engaged in the search effort:

• Alderney lifeboat
• Guernsey lifeboat
• Mona Rigolet (French rescue vessel)
• Our Miranda (fishing vessel)
• Abeille Liberte (large French tug)
• Jork Rider (Russian merchant ship)
• MFV Kerrie Marie (fishing boat)
  
• HMS Tyne
• 2x SAR helicopters
• Lion's Pride (Channel Islands Air Search aircraft)

For shipping movements as they happen, click here. Looking at this, a number of other boats could be involved but these are probably on fishing operations.

TAFs don't mean much when you're in the f******g water in November ffs

A woman has been air lifted to hospital having been found in a raft, the search continues for the other occupant.

BBC News - Aircraft ditches in English Channel

Crag.. give me strength... think about it

That must be the most unpleasant remark Ive ever seen following a serious accident. They havent even recovered the people concerned yet. Would you like to rephrase it?

Why, just why, do these events bring out the worst in Pprune or Flyer?
It shows Private Pilots in such a bad light.

Smudger, I suggest you look at the recent Red Arrows thread and you will see 8 pages and 159 posts to date. Read it. Thats how it should be done.
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...-merged-8.html

Search resumed earlier, after halting overnight. Many other vessels now involved.

A lovely local couple - flying community here on Alderney in shock.

Our thoughts with the dear lady and her family.

So sorry fo Alderney and the family
 

My inlaws live in Alderney and I fly to visit regulary so this very sad accident is of particular interest and my love / hate for the news is fueled, wanting to hear real facts quickly, not miss facts from speculaltion and at the moment there seems to be so little facts. Unusual to be south of the island when flying from the mainland? Nothing clear of the actual ditching point, wx appears to have been perfectly flyable. Wish I had found it yesterday but Marine Traffic - AIS | Digimap Ltd, Guernsey the French tug named earlier, the light blue tag was / now searching some 30/40 miles NNW of Guernsey

Yes Simonrennie..
 

a crious place to ditch if flying from south coast to Alderney.. fingers still crossed but it will have been a long cold night. tp

Obviously very strong currents in the CI and now hours later but water is 15 degrees, you don't get much warmer than that but without a survival suit on it looks very sad for him, the poor poor lady and family , but yes everything still crossed here.

The BBC map is wrong. The actual crash site is thought to have been about 20 miles WSW of Alderney. This would be an odd course from Lee-on-Solent but last night's activities indicate this position. Fingers crossed but comments about him not leaving the aircraft are worrying :(

The position (from AIS) of HMS Tyne yesterday afternoon was more like 20nm N of Alderney, This would be just outside the Class A airway to Ortac and an entirely logical place to be if one was crossing at a decent height without entering the airway.

Edited again to add - from reading the "other" side seems the search is very widespread. I think the confusion over where the aircraft was will continue for some time and we're unlikely to get much more closer than guesswork for a while.

Well said Neil. A sad time.

Currents can be as strong as 10 kts around the Casquettes lighthouse. The coastguard have a program that they put in the initial position and it calculates a search area based upon tides and winds etc.

Someone mentioned that it might be considered an odd place to ditch, but if you have no option...... but unfortunately even in 15C water temps, time of survival is not that long unless you have a life raft and immersion suit.