‘Holiday Of A Lifetime’ To Malta Ends In Tragedy After 2 Brits Die In Plane Crash In The French Alps
What should have been a ‘trip of a lifetime’ for two Brits has ended in tragedy after their light-plane crashed in the South of France as it was headed to Malta.
The family of 37-year-old Andrew Buck, who was the pilot, have taken to Facebook to thank everyone for their support, saying “it’s really comforting to know so many people care” before going on to open up about the pain of losing a son.
“Gut wrenching news this morning that our son Andrew Buck of Seaham Harbour has died in a light aircraft in the French Alps. Oh god, how do Dianne and me carry on. Love you son,” Les Buck, Andrew’s father, said.
Aside from Andrew, another unnamed 18-year-old man was also killed in the crash.
The crashed plane belonged to a company called Purple Aviation
Andrew was on a dream trip from Newcastle to Malta
The men had set off from Eshott Airfield in Northumberland on Sunday, as part of a group of planes, heading over the high mountain Maddalena Pass, located on the French-Italian Alpine border.
The trip was scheduled over a series of stages, and Andrew had just taken off from the Barcelonnette/Saint-Pons aerodrome shortly before the crash.
They were meant to land in Malta this coming Sunday, but following the crash, the other pilots have been “devastated by this tragic accident.”
Richard Pike, director of Purple Aviation, the company that owns the crashed plane, said: “We’d like to pass on our sincere condolences to the families of those who died. We have lost two brilliant friends today.”
Andrew Buck had just started a new job as an Air Ambulance Dispatch Operator in Darlington in April
He was known to enjoy flying privately in his spare time in a nearby airfield to his home.
French authorities will be opening an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. In a statement, they said that the plane had been part of a group of five planes and that another plane was forced to do an emergency landing as well, but no one was harmed in that landing.
Andrew’s sister, Lisa Crowe, has set up a fundraiser following the crash.
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