Biscarrosse: the man who jumped from a plane in flight caught in a “delusional crisis”, his body found – LCI

He had mentioned his suicidal intentions. A 32-year-old student pilot, missing at sea since the emergency landing of a tourist plane on a beach in Biscarosse (Landes) on Tuesday and whose body was found Wednesday morning, was taken from a “delusional crisis” in the cockpit, said the floor.

His body, rejected by the ocean, was found Wednesday morning on a beach at the Landes missile test center, a military zone that stretches over more than 15,000 hectares between Mimizan and Biscarosse, said Olivier Janson, prosecutor. of the Republic of Mont-de-Marsan.

The two-seater Piper aircraft had taken off from Biscarosse aerodrome. On board was a young man from La Rochelle who was taking a piloting course, as well as a 65-year-old instructor known to be a “seasoned pilot”. According to the first elements of the investigation, in the light in particular of the testimony of the instructor, “the flight was suddenly interrupted by some kind of delusional fit” of the student, who held “inconsistent remarks” and “would have shown his will to commit suicide and to throw the plane into the sea”, explained the magistrate to AFP.

While the plane flew over the Arcachon basin, the student pilot made a U-turn so “authoritarian”. The instructor then took control of the aircraft again and decided to make an emergency landing. Despite the pilot’s attempts to “appease” the situation, the student has “indicated that he would jump from the plane in mid-flight”.

The young man “opened the cockpit and jumped into the water, at an altitude of about fifty meters”, continued the prosecutor, pointing out that “the impact on the sea must have been particularly violent”. The instructor then landed in an emergency on the beach of Biscarosse, unharmed, but “in a state of shock”.

The investigation opened for “research of the causes of death” is entrusted to the brigade of gendarmerie of the air transport of Biarritz. The investigators will in particular use the recordings of the conversations on board the cockpit.