British siblings die in US crash

A brother and sister from Scotland have been killed in a small plane crash in a remote swampy area in central Florida
12 April 2012

A British brother and sister have been killed in a plane crash in Florida.

Carly Beattie, 21, was flying in a Cessna 152 with her brother Daniel, 24, when it crashed on Thursday in a wooded area near Blue Cypress Lake.

Ms Beattie was in America as part of her degree course at a British university and her parents were visiting from Scotland when the plane crashed. The family are understood to be from Penicuik in Midlothian.

Police in America said the crash site was located by tracing a mobile phone signal. It is understood Ms Beattie was the pilot of the plane but investigators are attempting to establish whether she was at the controls when the plane crashed.

A statement from Indian River County Sheriff's Office said: "At approximately 8pm on Thursday the Brevard County Sheriff's Office received a report of an overdue Cessna 152 airplane that departed from Space Coast Aviation at approximately 10am and failed to return on schedule.

"The flight was scheduled for three hours and was chartered by 21-year-old student pilot Carly Beattie and her 24-year-old brother Daniel Beattie. The siblings and their parents were visiting from Scotland and staying in Merritt Island.

"The Space Coast Aviation authorities implemented their overdue flight protocol and exhausted all plausible scenarios before notifying law enforcement."

A mobile phone tower was receiving a signal from the phone after the crash, police said.

The statement continued: "It was determined that the cell phone was receiving a signal in a wooded area near Yeehaw Junction and Blue Cypress Lake in Indian River County.

"With the assistance of Osceola County Sheriff's Office and Indian River County Sheriff's Office, the airplane was located where it had crashed in a wooded area within two miles from the cell phone tower. Both pilot and passenger were found deceased."

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