Martinique Honeymoon Medical Evacuation has Tragic Ending
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Contact photographer Fabrice Sanchez –
What: Transports Aériens Intercaraïbes Piper PA-42-720 Cheyenne III en route from St. Martin to Martinique
Where: French Antilles
When: May 5, 2012 2:45
Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities
Why: Five minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed between Tintamarre Island and Le Galion Beach, close to Orient Bay, St Martin, French Antilles.
The TAI Air Ambulance Service flight was piloted by Bruno Le Jeune, and was transporting a male tourist cardiac patient from the St. Maarten Medical Center to Martinique.
The patient, Panagiotis Vryonides of Nicosia, was on his honeymoon when fell ill on the “Allure of the Seas” cruise ship. He was from Cyprus. His wife was in Antigua.
More than French and Dutch 100 emergency personnel searched for the bodies between Tintamare, Pinel Island, and Cul de Sac. Divers recovered plane parts that will be stored in Anse Marcel. Partial remains have also been recovered. Recovery operations are being hampered by tiger sharks.
Doctor Jean Michel Dudiot, and Gerard Omere the nurse were both from the SMUR of Martinique.
There had been originally another plane sent to transport the patient but it had had mechanical problems. Louis Constant Fleming Hospital has said that the plane was not sanitary enough for medical evacuations.
