Plane carrying Italian fashion boss, 5 others missing off Venezuela

USPA News - A sea and air search continued Sunday morning for a small plane which disappeared off the coast of Venezuela on Friday, local authorities said. Among the six people on board the aircraft is Italian fashion boss Vittorio Missoni and his wife.

The twin-engine Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander disappeared shortly after 11:39 a.m. local time on Friday when it took off from a small airport on Gran Roque island in the Los Roques archipelago, which is located off the coast of mainland Venezuela and is a popular destination for wealthy European tourists. Venezuela`s National Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC) said the aircraft disappeared from radar when it was approximately 10 nautical miles (18 kilometers) south of the Los Roques archipelago. It was heading for Maiquetía, a city close to the capital Caracas, and was carrying enough fuel for a flight of up to 3 hours. Authorities confirmed the aircraft was carrying six people, including four tourists and two Venezuelan pilots. Italian fashion house Missoni confirmed its executive Vittorio Missoni and his wife were vacationing in Venezuela over the holidays and were among the passengers on the board the plane. "The Missoni company today confirms that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing in Venezuela," the fashion house said in a statement issued on Sunday. "The small plane they were travelling on has disappeared. This is all the information currently available. We are relying on the work of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the institutions involved, to whom we are grateful for the prompt activities in the search." A spokesperson for Venezuela`s Aquatic and Air Transport Ministry said a sea and air search continued on early Sunday morning. It said seven aircraft and a number of speedboats were participating in the search, which covers an area of approximately 360 square nautical miles. Vittorio Missoni, 58, runs the company along with his two siblings, Luca and Angela, who handle the technical and design sides of the firm. The fashion house, based in the Italian town of Varese, was founded by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni in 1953 and is best known for its exuberantly colored knits which feature bold stripes and zigzags.