Aircraft crash victim identified

The survivor is being treated for hypothermia

One of two men who died after a plane crashed into the English Channel has been named as Rodney Badham, 65, from Daventry in Northamptonshire.

The second victim, of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, has not yet been named.

Survivor Mark Wilkinson, from Rugby in Warwickshire, is being treated for hypothermia.

The Beech Baron plane was flying from Coventry to the Channel Island of Alderney when it crashed in waters off Cherbourg on Wednesday.

An investigation is being carried out and French authorities hope talking to Mr Wilkinson may help them discover what caused it to go down.

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

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 were pronounced dead.

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.