A Portimão resident has been declared missing presumed dead after his Cessna 152 light aeroplane crashed this morning off Sagres.
The experienced Portuguese pilot, a man of 74, set off from the Aero Club of Portimão and the sound of the Cesna engine last was heard by the crew of a fishing boat in dense sea fog.
According to the Civil Protection unit an immediate search was actioned by sea and helicopter and the crash site later was identified by the Marine Police with the aircraft found to be lying in 20 to 30 metres of water. Hopefully the body is in the cockpit and recoverable.
According to the commander of the port of Lagos and Sagres, Carvalho Pinto, the alert was given at 11.00am by the fishing vessel captain who was 1-2 miles south of the port of Baleeira. There was poor visibility and heavy fog.
According to the crew of the fishing boat, the aircraft was flying at low altitude and must have crashed into the water.
The ports commander added that after the airfields of Portimão and Lagos had been contacted it was found that a light aircraft had taken off at 10.15am from Portimão but soon had lost radio contact and had disappeared from the radar screen.
Carvalho Pinto alerted the lifesaving crew from Sagres which later found several pieces of floating wreckage but not the sunken fuselage. An air-force helicopter also was scrambled to help in the search.
The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed tricycle gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was produced between 1977–1985 in the USA but the age of the one that crashed today has not yet been revealed.
