Search & rescue efforts to continue for missing pilot after plane crashed into ocean near Durban

JOHANNESBURG - Search and rescue efforts will resume for a missing pilot whose aircraft plummeted into the ocean in Durban.

Rescue teams halted their operations on Thursday evening due to poor visibility and safety concerns for divers.

Police have confirmed that the pilot was part of an air show and was in the middle of performing his final display when the small aircraft nose-dived into the sea at Suncoast Beach.

Some wreckage was recovered during operations; however, there is still no sign of the pilot.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said the search continues.

"Police in KwaZulu-Natal are searching for a pilot whose light aircraft crashed into the sea at the Suncoast Beach in Durban on Thursday afternoon. Police search and rescue team, working together with their private counterparts, have recovered some wreckage of the aircraft and the search for the pilot is ongoing."