BEIRUT, 14 October 2021, (TON): A civilian training plane that belonged to the Lebanese Aviation Club crashed into the Mediterranean Sea and the two people on board are missing, the Lebanese Army announced.

The crash site is off the coast of Halat near Byblos where search operations continue for the pilot, Ali Hajj Ahmed, and a student pilot, Pascale Abdel Ahad.

The Cessna 172 plane took off from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport at 10:06 a.m. local time on Wednesday, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Lebanon. Less than 20 minutes later, the plane disappeared from air navigation radars over the sea in the Halat area.

Kris Kashouh, of the Lebanese Plane Spotters told media “the captain of the plane did not contact the control tower and did not give a distress signal, which is strange.”

The Lebanese Navy, Air Force, and Civil Defense have joined the search operations.

“The search concentrated on a wide area at a distance of one kilometer away from Halat beach and at depths ranging between 30 and 35 meters,” a Lebanese Civil Defense source said. “Divers from the civil defense took turns in the search operations in very delicate conditions, due to the tides and winds in the area.”

Unconfirmed reports indicated that Abdel Ahad had contacted the control tower because the pilot of the plane suffered a health condition.