A north-east fisherman has revealed the shocking moment the wreckage from a missing German plane got caught in his fishing net.
Benarkle II skipper Mark Addison was out on the seas 70 miles east of Shetland, when he stumbled across parts of Cessna 172 which went down last year.
Pulling what was left of the aircraft on to his boat’s platform, the 56-year-old also happened upon human remains in the cockpit.
Now, speaking to The Press and Journal, he has told of the shock moment he and his seven crewmates discovered the vessel that was assumed lost more than 12 months ago.
He said: “We were hauling out nets, and saw something coming up on my camera but we couldn’t see because it was all wrapped up in the net.
“But once we started unravelling it with the crane, we just saw something that ended up being the plane tail.
“There was a number on it, and once we looked it up we thought it might be best to phone the coastguard – it was coming up that it was a lost plane, with one person onboard.
“We decided then that we were going to retrieve some of the wreckage.”
Remains discovered within North Sea plane wreckage
Inside the wreckage, the remains of a plane passenger were discovered by Mark and his crew.
They also recovered its wing, fuselage and tail before it broke away back into the sea.
He continued: “You couldn’t immediately see anything from our perspective at first. The plane was upside down for a start
“You could see the wheels coming out of the water, but that was it. There wasn’t a roof on it anymore.
“The fuselage was all that you could make out.
“But we managed to eventually get what was left of the cockpit on to our boat platform, which was where the remains were seen.”
Upon seeing what was left of the person inside, the crew phoned the coastguard, who notified the police.
He added: “I was pre-primed because my mate had said that there was one person onboard when it crashed.
“I’m just glad there is something there that they can DNA test, so hopefully the family can get some closure
“That really is the main aim with something like this.”
Recovery ‘awkward’ for fishing boat crew
Mark also said retrieving the wreckage was “awkward” and could have posed a risk to him and his fishing crew.
But getting closure for the plane passenger’s family was the “top priority” he said.
Mark said: “Getting it can be quite awkward. It’s a lot to ask of the crew, to get all of this onboard to take back – it’s not easy.”
“Picking it up off the water can make the boat sway with all of the new weight. It’s not the most stable.”
“I just wanted us to be able to retrieve what we could without anyone getting hurt,” he added.
The plane, which was discovered on Friday, has now been officially identified by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). Police are now investigating the circumstances of the crash.
A police spokesperson said: “Police received a report of a small aircraft having been recovered from the water in the North Sea, north-east of Lerwick, around 2.20pm on Friday.
“The aircraft was brought to shore on Sunday and human remains were found within.
“Inquiries are ongoing.”
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