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PA46 Malibu N264DB missing in the English Channel

Apparently, the plane belonged to the president of the Cardiff Football club.

May the victims find peace.

Very bad publicity for GA as well…

LFOU, France

Ibra – yep that is so for Bournemouth until 12 Feb and one wonders if it will be extended then. As they would say in the States – “so that is what we pay all our tax dollars for” – oh, I forgot, we dont! :-).

I would have thought a service from London would be available – what did you get from them?

A service isnt going to help you fly the plane, but it is certainly of some help getting the SARs guys to you.

Is it bad publicity? Maybe? However the Malibu is a very capable aircraft, aside from other matters. Some might question the wisdom of a night crossing in a single, but that debate has been had often enough. Whether it was sensible giving the TAF’s and area forecast, I have no idea, but assuming it was de-iced there would have been a good margin.

Last Edited by Fuji_Abound at 22 Jan 15:40

That they’ve found nothing at all yet and no distress call suggests to me the aircraft went in hard or CFIT. I’d have to imagine that had the contact with water been survivable, there would have at least been a PLB activation.

Andreas IOM

Fuji_Abound wrote:

I would have thought a service from London would be available – what did you get from them?

It was Notamed as not available as well on Sunday Jan 13, they did not reply obviously,
On the day, I just tuned London control (118.480) and emergency (121.5) on the radio, I also filled an IFR FP OCAS and just flew it, it was the quietest flight I had in a PA28 in ages

Seems to be the case this week as well,
Here is the notam
Q) EGTT/QSEAU/IV/B/E/000/195/5155N00157W999
B) FROM: 19/01/22 00:00C) TO: 19/01/28 04:30
E) THE FLIGHT INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE LONDON ACC ON FREQ
124.600 MHZ, 124.750 MHZ AND 125.475 MHZ WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.
PILOTS REQUESTING FLIGHT INFORMATION DURING THIS PERIOD MAY CONTACT
LONDON CONTROL ON THE NOTIFIED H24 FREQUENCIES IN THE AIP PAGE ENR
2.1

SCHEDULE: 0000-0030 0230-0430

Last Edited by Ibra at 22 Jan 16:06
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

I know hope is eternal and it is a wonderful thought, but if they ended up in the sea, suggesting there is still hope is sadly clutching at straws. With a raft I guess there is hope, but the sea is now as cold as it gets and too much time has elapsed. It really is very sobering just how short and how quick rescue must be at this time of year once you are in the water without an immersion suite or a raft. I only make this point because with winter sailing it is something we rehearse and recovering someone very quickly is absolutely vital as hypothermia sets in so quickly. Sorry to say.

Ibra wrote:

PILOTS REQUESTING FLIGHT INFORMATION DURING THIS PERIOD MAY CONTACT
LONDON CONTROL ON THE NOTIFIED H24 FREQUENCIES IN THE AIP PAGE ENR
2.1

Would it take them an arm and a leg to just write the actual frequency there instead of sending people fishing in the AIP? <swearword>

Last Edited by lionel at 22 Jan 15:55
ELLX

lionel wrote:

Would it take them an arm and a leg to just write the actual frequency there instead of sending people fishing in the AIP?

They probably give you the reference instead of the frequency to keep NOTAMs robust. The frequency might change but where to find it will always be in the same place.

EDDW, Germany

Ibra – ah ok, 118.40 of course operational. Is it me or would a NOTAM to this effect be just a little more helpful if it didnt refer to the AIP, but gave the frequency?

It isnt likely to change in six days is it, or if it were it might be worth mentioning!

I don’t think Bournemouth is really relevant. At the altitude and location (5,000ft, later cleared to descend to 2,300) the pilot would have had to be working Jersey Control.

If not on a EuroControl IFR flightplan (which I think we can assume is probably the case, given the level) then they would indeed have had a bit of a radar gap. Plymouth Military would long have gone home, and the next radar service outside controlled airspace would have been Exeter.

Sadly they did not seem to get far enough for that lack of radar coverage to matter. Or maybe they did – maybe they got halfway across the channel at zero feet….

EGLM & EGTN
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