It was a Sunday stroll over the Charente islands. It was sunny. The sightseeing flight was canceled. The pilot of the aircraft, leaving Poitiers at the crack of dawn, experienced an engine failure.
Despite losing altitude quickly, the 50 year-old man, not on his first flight manages to alert the control tower before the plane crashes into the open sea off La Flotte. . France Bleu claims that the plane "tumbled multiple times."
The alert was immediately triggered by the maritime prefecture for the Atlantic. A speedboat carrying six rescuers from SNSM of Ile de Re arrived to search for the pilot. He was able to escape the plane just before it crashed. Boaters saw the accident and helped him to safety. He was then taken to Saint-Martin-de-Re by the SNSM. Hugo Bressie (owner of the SNSM), who was present at the operation, said that the pilot was shocked, but he is not injured.
The pilot was supported by firefighters and transported to La Rochelle for control examinations
