
Former military fighter pilot and his son feared dead after Majorca plane crash into the sea
Police confirmed on Sunday morning specialist divers were continuing to search for the occupants after locating the wreckage of the two-seat Team Rocket F-4 Raider sport plane capable of doing speeds of more than 250mph.
The plane was seen crashing into the sea near the tourist town of Soller just after 8pm on Saturday after being spotted doing air acrobatics including 'daring but legal' 360-Degree turns.
The occupants have been described locally as a former American military combat pilot aged around 60 who lives in Germany and has a holiday home in Majorca. He is understood to currently work as a commercial pilot.
Eye-witnesses have said the plane he was believed to be in performed a series of adventurous stunts off the coast before returning to Binissalem Aerodrome where he had taken off from earlier in the day to pick up his passenger.
Respected Majorcan daily Ultima Hora said the second person feared dead in the crash was the American pilot's 13-year-old child.
Police have not yet made any official comment about the identities and nationalities of the confirmed two occupants of the plane.
The Civil Guard said early on Sunday morning: 'The search for two occupants is continuing this morning following the plane accident yesterday evening.
'The accident happened around 8pm opposite the Soller lighthouse and in waters about 30 metres deep.
'Specialists from the Civil Guard's elite GEA diving unit, the Maritime Service and the Air Service are still conducting a search.
In an initial statement late on Saturday the force said: 'The two-seater plane had left Binissalem Aerodrome around 6pm yesterday and the accident happened around 100 metres from the coast opposite the lighthouse in Soller Port.
'The remains of the plane have been located but we still have no information about the number of people inside.
'We have spoken to an eye-witness on a boat who saw the accident.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Death of Shéa Ryan who fell down manhole was avoidable
The death of a 10-year-old boy who fell down an open manhole at a construction site could have been avoided, a sheriff has Ryan died on 16 July 2020 when he climbed through an unsecured fence on a building site in Drumchapel, Glasgow, and fell 20ft (6.1 metres) down a manhole company RJ McLeod was fined £860,000 in April 2023 for failing to secure the site, where work had also been done by Amey Black & Stuart Reid headed up a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) which found that there were five reasonable precautions that could have been taken by the two companies to prevent Shéa's death. Unlike a criminal trial, an FAI seeks to establish the facts surrounding the death and does not look to place blame. The inquiry heard that Shéa entered the construction site with his friends and told them he wanted to climb down a he slipped from a ladder at the manhole entrance to the water below, and was later found unconscious with severe head Black & Veatch had transferred the site over to RJ McLeod two weeks before the Reid said that poor cooperation and communication between the two companies contributed to the contributing factor was that Amey Black & Veatch had removed a heavy bag of material from the manhole shortly before they left the sheriff also said that RJ McLeod failed to prevent unauthorised access to the manhole and failed to assess the risk of unauthorised people accessing the was also a lack of inspection and maintenance of the parameter fencing, and a failure to inspect the manhole at the end of the working day to make sure it was closed. 'Catastrophic loss' The sheriff made eight recommendations - seven of which were for the Health and Safety Executive to review existing procedures and to consider revising included a review of guidance to protect children, record incidents of perimeter breaches and prevent unauthorised access to incomplete recommended better cooperation and information sharing between principal contractors on incidents of unauthorised access and vandalism on building site was 197ft (60m) from a children's playpark, which was considered a contributing factor in the sheriff recommended that Glasgow City Council and other local authorities should review their procedures when play parks are located near a construction fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the inquiry was launched after the circumstances of Shéa's death caused "significant public concern".He said: "Shéa Ryan's tragic death has been a catastrophic loss for his family. "They have my deepest sympathy as they continue to deal with the pain they have suffered."Digby Brown, the solicitors who represented Shéa's family, welcomed the recommendations but said the determination showed his death was an "avoidable tragedy".


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Vacationing American boy, 14, among three children killed by lightning strike in Cuba
Three children, including a United States resident, were killed and another was injured after they were struck by lightning in Cuba. The incident occurred Sunday afternoon in Manicaragua, a city in the central province of Villa Clara, according to the Cuban state news agency. The children were reportedly on a hill attempting to get internet access on their cell phones when they were jolted, witnesses told the local media. The fatal victims were identified as Jorge Alejandro de la Coba Monteagudo, a 14-year-old resident of the U.S.; Analía García Rodríguez, 14; and Andy Alberto Turiño González, 13. Footage on social media showed a man and a woman practicing CPR on one of the children, who was lying on the ground. 'God, look what happened to these children. This is pure reality. This is reality. Look,' another man said while he recorded. 'That was the lightning that struck here. Look, another child. This is [a] catastrophe, I'm telling you. Look, that was lightning, lightning right now,' he added while a person in the background urged bystanders to get a car. Diamelis Delgado Granados, 14, was rushed to José Luis Miranda Pediatric Hospital, where she remains hospitalized and is in stable condition. Analía García Rodríguez was killed Sunday in Manicaragua, Cuba after she was struck by lighting. Witnesses told local media that the 14-year-old girl and three other children, including two who also died, were standing on a hill area searching for internet signals on their cell phones when they were jolted 'We are relieved to know that Diamelis is progressing positively thanks to the swift intervention of the medical team,' First Secretary of the Communist Party, Susely Morfa, told reporters. 'We reiterate our commitment to supporting the family and ensuring she receives all the care necessary for her full recovery.' The incident comes nearly two months after two children were killed by lighting strike. The victims, two boys aged 13 and 16, were playing soccer when lighting fell on a street in Bauta, a town in the northwestern province of Artemisa, 42 miles southwest of La Habana. A total of 1,742 people were killed by lighting strike in Cuba between 1987 and 2017, according to a study published by the government's Institute of Meteorology in 2020 Dunielkis Fonseca Borges was killed in May 2023 after she and seven co-workers were struck by lightning outside a state-run nickel building in the eastern city of Holguín. A study published by the government's Institute of Meteorology in 2020 found that 1,742 people were killed by lighting strikes between 1987 and 2017. An average of 20 people are killed by lighting each year in the United States, according to the National Weather Service. There have been 13 lightning fatalities reported in 2025, the most recent being July 26 when a 32-year-old woman was killed in Lake Texoma, Oklahoma. National Weather Service data shows that 12 people were killed by lightning in 2024 and that 14 died in 2023.


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Mauro Icardi killed and ATE pigeon after using homemade slingshot at Barcelona academy, claims former team-mate
MAURO ICARDI left Barcelona stars stunned with his wild antics during his time at the club's academy, says a former team-mate. The Argentine joined La Masia as a fifteen-year-old after being spotted playing for a club from the Canary Islands. 1 Sergi Gomez, who went on to play for Sevilla and Espanyol, shared an apartment with Icardi, future Stoke star Marc Muniesa and Champions League winner Sergi Roberto. And he told Spanish podcast Post United: "Mauro arrived at La Masía and we were teammates for three or four seasons. "During one of those seasons, we shared an apartment. One day, he said to me, 'Sergi, come with me to the park next door.' "He was carrying a Y-shaped piece of wood that he had cut the day before, with a rubber band tied to it. "He had made a homemade slingshot. We went to the park, and he pointed to a very tall pine tree and said, 'See up there?' "He grabbed a rock, stretched the rubber band, and... boom. "He brought down the pigeon from a height of 20 or 30 metres. "We went back, he plucked its feathers, threaded a wire through it, lit a fire, and ate it in front of me. "I remember thinking: 'What awaits me if we start like this?'" Mauro Icardi shows his skills at the Barcelona youth academy Icardi, now 32, is currently going through divorce proceedings with wife and former agent Wanda Nara. The striker accuses Nara of infidelity, which could lead to her having to pay alimony if found to be the reason for the divorce. The estranged couple have two daughters together - Francesca, 10, and Isabella, 8. But Gomez was positive about his former team-mate as a person. He said: "We lived through a lot together, and if he sees me, he'll know that I hold that in my heart."