A PLANE that crashed into the English Channel with two people on board was on a day trip to France, it has been reported.

The plane, thought to be a Piper PA-28 Cherokee, went missing around midday on Saturday, April 2, after leaving Wellesbourne in Warwickshire to Le Touquet, in Northern France.

The French coastguard said the plane is the subject of a “worrying disappearance” and confirmed it had crashed off the coast of Hastings.

According to the Mailonline, the single-engine plane was owned by flying instructor Guy Wakeley, 51, who is also a well-known financial services boss.

He is currently listed as a non-executive director at City of London equity investment company HgCapital Trust plc.

A spokesman for the French emergency services said: "It crashed into British waters for an unknown reason.

"British Coastguard launched an operation supported by French aircraft and boats including the Abeille-Languedoc (Languedoc Bee) tug, which has been chartered by the French Navy".

Two French aircraft and a boat were searching off the Sussex coast over the weekend, while a UK aircraft was also attempting to find the whereabouts of the plane.

A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “A coastguard helicopter, as well as the Dungeness and Hastings RNLI lifeboat, joined French search and rescue resources in the search, which went on into the night, mid-channel off Hastings and Dungeness."