Missing Missoni plane: luggage washes ashore
From left, Angela, Ottavio, Rosita, Vittorio and Luca Missoni attend the Missoni fashion show during Milan fashion week on September 25, 2011, in Italy.
A bag that was on a small plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five others when it went missing Jan. 4 has washed ashore, the Associated Press reported.
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A German tourist found the bag on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, about 200 miles west of the islands of Los Roques, where the BN-2 Islander plane took off for Caracas, Venezuela, the AP reported. The plane disappeared shortly after takeoff.
The bag belongs to an Italian tourist, Giorgio Neri, who flew from Los Roques to Caracas on the same day as Missoni but on a different plane, Women’s Wear Daily reported. Neri’s plane had no room for his bag, which had kitesurfing equipment in it, so Missoni’s plane took it onboard.
The bag was labeled with Neri’s contact information, and the German tourist emailed him about it when he returned home, WWD reported. Neri then informed the Missoni family.
The discovery may help focus the search for the missing plane, WWD said.
According to the AP:
Italy's air safety agency has said the pilot of the missing plane had an expired medical fitness certificate and the company operating the aircraft was not yet authorized to fly.