Missing pilot is hailed as a hero

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Robert Mansell, 32, originally from Knowle, near Solihull in the West Midlands, ditched the plane with nine passengers on board into the sea after making an emergency mayday call, his employer Divi Divi Air said.

The passengers survived but Mr Mansell is still missing following the crash at about 10am local time on Wednesday.

Simon Janzen, from the company, said they were looking for his body.

He added: "He's a hero. All the passengers survived and he is the only one missing. If he wasn't a good pilot, he couldn't have ditched it so everyone could be saved. Other pilots wouldn't have known what to do but he landed the aircraft so that everyone could get out safely."

Mr Mansell was flying a twin-engine Britten-Norman Islander from Curacao to Bonaire when the accident happened. It is believed that when the plane ditched in the sea, its nose lurched forward, knocking Mr Mansell unconscious.

A passenger sitting next to Mr Mansell had tried to free him from his harness but was unable to do so before the aircraft sunk.

There was no-one at the detached house where Mr Mansell's father Roger, a retired radar expert with the Civil Aviation Authority, lives with his daughter Claire, a pharmaceuticals worker.

But neighbours spoke fondly of Mr Mansell, whose mother Felicity died four-years-ago from cancer. John Instone, 81, said: "Roger is devastated. The stress of it all is terrible. Robert's sister Claire is so upset. Robert conducted himself very well for a young man."

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in a plane crash near Curacao."