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Missing plane search is launched Missing plane search called off
(30 minutes later)
A search-and-rescue operation has been launched after an aircraft bound for Kent went missing. A search-and-rescue operation for an aircraft that went missing on its way to Kent has been called off.
The civilian two-seater plane set off from Cambridge on Wednesday morning on the 100-mile trip to Lydd Airport, near Romney Marsh. The missing civilian two-seater plane set off from Cambridge on Wednesday morning on the 100-mile trip to Lydd Airport, near Romney Marsh.
The aircraft was last heard from near the mouth of the River Medway at Sheerness at about 1100 BST.The aircraft was last heard from near the mouth of the River Medway at Sheerness at about 1100 BST.
An RAF Sea King helicopter from Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk, has been scrambled as part of the search. A coastguard helicopter and an RAF Sea King helicopter from Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk, were scrambled.
The aircraft was said to be a VariEze, fixed wing, homebuilt aircraft. The lost aircraft was said to be a VariEze, fixed wing, homebuilt aircraft.
'Waiting game'
The RAF Air Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) said on Wednesday evening that the area had been searched and the operation had been called off.
Dover Coastguard said there had been no further sightings of the missing plane.
A spokesman for Dover Coastguard said: "What happens next is up to the ARCC.
"The aircraft may have come down in a small field somewhere and they could be on their way to a telephone."
He added: "Visibility has been excellent all day. No-one has said anything to suggest that anything might have come down. There has been no distress message from the aircraft. So we are in a waiting game."
'Aircraft overdue''Aircraft overdue'
Dover Coastguards said the entire Kent coast, the Isle of Grain and the Isle of Sheppey had been covered so far. The search operation covered the entire Kent coast, the Isle of Grain and the Isle of Sheppey.
A "straight line" search has also been carried out between Sheerness and Lydd Airport. A "straight line" search was also carried out between Sheerness and Lydd Airport.
A Dover Coastguard spokesman said: "A light aircraft is overdue. It was bound from Cambridge to Lydd and was last heard from through its GPS navigational equipment at midday, just north of Sheppey. Earlier, coastguards said the light aircraft, which was bound from Cambridge to Lydd, was overdue.
"ARCC [Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre] at RAF Kinloss are co-ordinating the search and we have been assisting them with our fixed winged aircraft from Manston. They said the plane was heading from Cambridge to Lydd and was last heard from through its GPS navigational equipment at midday, just north of Sheppey.
"We're not sure whether one or two people were on board." The ARCC at RAF Kinloss was co-ordinating the search and coastguards had assisted with their fixed winged aircraft from Manston.
Kent and Essex police forces have also been carrying out a land search for the aircraft. Rescuers said it was unclear whether one or two people were on board.
Kent and Essex police forces have also carried out a land search for the aircraft.