A British man has died after a plane crashed into the sea off a beach in Spain.
The 66-year-old was killed instantly when the light aircraft plunged into the water soon after he took off from a small aerodrome, called Aeroclub Totana, in Murcia.
The Brit is said to have lost control of his plane before it crashed off Descargador Beach, near Cala Reona, which is close to the naval port city of Cartagena.
The fatal crash happened around 11.30am on Saturday.
Local reports claim the man had been performing acrobatic stunts before he crashed in thick fog.
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Locals practising water sports, including a canoeist, pulled the Brit’s body from the aircraft, and a pleasure boat took him to a nearby port.
Luis Martinez Escudero, one of the men who helped pull the Brit’s body from the sea, told a local paper: “We saw a body floating face down in the water five minutes after the plane came down.
“I put the body on the longboard I was on with the help of a canoeist who also headed to the same spot.
“We then transferred the dead man into a boat that turned up and took him to a nearby port.”
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He also described weather conditions at the time as “extremely foggy.”
Mr Martinez told the Las Provincias newspaper that the plane was doing “loops” before it crashed.
Another pilot who left the aerodrome shortly before the crash is understood to have complained about low clouds.
Coastguard divers and police searched the area to rule out any more victims before it was confirmed the expat was on his own in the plane.
An investigation into the tragedy is now underway pending the autopsy which is expected to take place later.
Cartagena mayoress Ana Belen Castejon wrote on Twitter: “My sincere condolences to the friends and loved ones of the man who has died.
“Sadly nothing could be done to save his life.”
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre said: “We can confirm the death of a man aged 66 who suffered a light aircraft accident in Cala Reona in the municipality of Cartagena.”
