Survivor 'key' to crash inquiry

The survivor is being treated for hypothermia

French police are to talk to the sole survivor of a plane which crashed into the English Channel to try to discover what caused it to go down.

Two British men died when the Beech Baron plane, flying from Coventry to the Channel Island of Alderney, crashed in waters off Cherbourg on Wednesday.

The survivor, thought to be from Rugby, is being treated for hypothermia.

The French Navy said the plane was unlikely to be recovered, so the man was key to finding out what happened.

"They've started a few investigations into the cause of the crash, but at the moment we've no real idea, " Lt Alex Edme told BBC News.

Plane debris

Jersey Airport Authorities alerted the regional rescue centre CROSS after losing contact with the aircraft 13km (8.1m) north of Cherbourg.

A rescue was launched by French emergency services and the three men were plucked from the sea at 1045 GMT.

They were taken to the Pasteur Hospital in Cherbourg where two of them were pronounced dead.

A Foreign Office spokesman said consular staff were trying to contact next-of-kin.

The twin-engined private plane had left Coventry Airport just after 0900 GMT and was on its way to Alderney when it disappeared eight miles north of Cherbourg.

An Aurigny plane en route from Southampton to Alderney with nine passengers on board tailed the stricken aircraft, and stayed nearby until a French Navy helicopter arrived to lift the casualties out of the water.

There have been reports the plane's engines may have failed.

Some debris has been collected from the water and the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed it was assisting the French authorities with the investigation.