Pilot killed in Alps plane crash ‘was on trip of a lifetime’ to Malta

Two Brits who were killed in a light-plane crash in the south of France on Wednesday had been ‘on the trip of a lifetime’ to Malta.

The crash occurred over the high mountain Maddalena Pass, on the Alpine border with Italy.

Both men were part of a group of several planes who had set off from Eshott Airfield in Northumberland on Sunday.

On Facebook Richard Pike, director of Purple Aviation, based in Felton, Northumberland, said thep had been travelling in a series of stages, scheduled to reach Malta on Saturday.

The expedition from Newcastle to Malta was meant to be “the trip of a lifetime”, he said.

The pilot of the plane has been named as 37-year-old Andrew Buck. The other passenger is yet to be named.

Andrew’s dad Les Buck wrote on Facebook: “Gut wrenching news this morning that our son Andrew Buck of Seaham Harbour has died in a light aircraft in the French Alps.

The flight had taken off from the Barcelonnette/Saint-Pons aerodrome shortly before the fatal crash.

.

Mirror