Local company plays a major role in the discovery of two aircraft lost near an island chain off the coast of Venezuela, including a plane that disappeared in January with six passengers, among them Italian fashion design CEO Vittorio Missoni and his wife.
A Venezuelan national park, the Los Roques archipelago is a popular vacation destination of wealthy Europeans.
C&C Technologies announced that it played a major role in the discovery of two aircraft lost near an island chain off the coast of Venezuela, including a plane that disappeared in January with six passengers, among them Italian fashion design CEO Vittorio Missoni and his wife.
The airplanes, an LET L-410 and BN2 Islander, vanished on Jan. 4, 2008, and Jan. 4, 2013, respectively, off the archipelago of Los Roques. The former aircraft was carrying 14 passengers and crew en route from Caracas to Los Roques when it disappeared.
The BN2 Islander was lost north of the island this year carrying six passengers and crew, including Vittorio Missoni, son of the late Ottavio Missoni, the patriarch and founder of the fashion house Missoni. At the time of his death, Vittorio headed the Italian fashion brand.
Photo by Robin May
Jim and Thomas Chance
of C&C Technologies
C&C says the recovery mission was done aboard the R/V Sea Scout, its 134-foot aluminum-hulled catamaran vessel equipped with an autonomous underwater vehicle, in coordination with SEA Corporation, Italian and Venezuelan authorities and the Missoni family.
LET L-410 was located June 19 and the BN2 Islander June 27.
Lafayette-based C&C, which last year ranked No. 15 on ABiz's list of Acadiana's Top 50 Privately Held Companies with $143 million in 2011 revenues, is a worldwide pioneer in ocean-floor reconnaissance with its development of AUVs equipped with high-tech photographic, sonar and imaging systems.
In announcing the find, the company said it is not releasing images of the downed aircraft "out of respect for the victims and their families," adding that the company "is humbly grateful to have been a part of this mission" and that it offers "our prayers and sympathies to the relatives and friends of those lost and hope that our efforts may help bring some closure."