久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>Life
         
 

'Little Prince' author's plane wreckage found
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-08 11:09

It was one of French aviation's enduring mysteries: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the pilot and author of the beloved tale "The Little Prince," took off on a World War II spy mission for the Allies and was never seen again.


Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of  "The Little Prince," died at 44. [file photo]
After 60 years, officials have confirmed that the twisted wreckage of a Lockheed Lightning P-38, found on the Mediterranean seabed not far from the rugged cliffs of Provence, belonged to Saint-Exupery, Air Force Capt. Frederic Solano said Wednesday.

In France, the discovery is akin to solving the mystery of where Amelia Earhart's plane went down in the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

"This was our holy grail," said Philippe Castellano, president of an association of aviation buffs who helped authorities identify the debris. "We never even imagined this."

It was a stunning revelation: Teams have been searching up and down the coast for decades, and many experts believed the plane was probably too far out to sea to be recovered.

Clues to the crash started coming together in 1998, when a bracelet bearing Saint-Exupery's name turned up in a fisherman's net near Marseille. Some reports said the find was a fake.

"For six years, people had their doubts," said the fisherman, Jean-Claude Bianco. "People claimed I made it myself."


"The Little Prince" stamp issued by France [file photo] 
But Bianco's discovery jogged the memory of a local scuba diver, who first saw the plane debris nestled in the ocean bed in the 1980s.

The diver, Luc Vanrell, pored over records of downed planes. By 2000, he was convinced he had found the right one. But it took time to get permission from France's Culture Ministry to have the pieces brought up for analysis.

The plane, smashed into hundreds of pieces, lies 100 to 300 feet below the surface, less than three miles from the coast between Marseille and Cassis. The key find was a tail piece bearing a tiny serial number, 2734 L — the same as Saint-Exupery's, Castellano said.

A piece of the puzzle remains unanswered: the cause of the crash. Theories have ranged from hostile gunfire to suicide. The debris has so far yielded no clues.

"It's impossible to say if he was shot down, if he lost consciousness, or if he had a mechanical accident," said Patrick Grandjean of the national Department of Subaquatic and Submarine Archaeological Research.

Famous for his bravery, Saint-Exupery was selected for the dangerous mission of collecting data on German troop movements in the Rhone River Valley. His plane vanished in the night on July 31, 1944, when he was 44.

He has become one of France's most admired figures, in part because of "The Little Prince," a tender fable about a prince from an asteroid who explores the planets and then falls to earth. Saint-Exupery's other works, which largely deal with his aviation experiences, include "Wind, Sand and Stars" and "Flight to Arras," about a doomed reconnaissance mission.

Until the euro currency was introduced in 2002, the novelist's image appeared on the nation's 50-franc note. In Lyon, Saint-Exupery's hometown, the international airport is named after him.

Castellano, president of the Aero-ReL.I.C. organization that helped identify the plane, said some Saint-Exupery fans resisted the efforts. They wanted to keep the mystery alive.

"In the end, I think everyone is satisfied," he said. "We didn't find a body, so the myth surrounding his disappearance will live on."

 
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Nation steps up efforts to contain HIV/AIDS

 

   
 

35 coalition troops, 170 Iraqis die in 3 days

 

   
 

Lien refiles lawsuit for new election

 

   
 

Koizumi vows to continue shrine visits

 

   
 

Beijing forecasts: Another year of drought

 

   
 

Call for cosmic cooperation with Europeans

 

   
  'Little Prince' author's plane wreckage found
   
  On alert against depression
   
  Hint of Beckham's affair sparks gossip frenzy
   
  Gallery biz prospers in cities
   
  Study finds frequent sex may cut cancer risk
   
  A mission for the 'Princess of Peacock'
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  Eric Clapton plays the devil's music  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲精品第五页 | 欧美一级精品高清在线观看 | 欧美精品首页 | 女人扒开腿让男人捅啪啪 | 久久99国产精品久久99 | 久久国产精品永久免费网站 | 日韩精品久久久久久 | 一级看片免费视频囗交 | 国产免费一区不卡在线 | 日韩欧免费一区二区三区 | 找国产毛片 | 一级毛片在线完整免费观看 | 国产精品视频免费观看调教网 | 欧美国产日韩一区二区三区 | 免费人成在线观看网站 | 先锋影音xfyy5566男人资源 | 国产高清一区 | 亚洲精品国产男人的天堂 | 日韩亚洲人成网站在线播放 | 成人免费高清视频 | 久草中文在线视频 | 国产高清厕所盗摄视频 | 国产三级毛片视频 | 国产精品成久久久久三级 | 色网址在线观看 | 成人第一页 | 精品国产亚洲一区二区三区 | 手机看片免费基地你懂的 | 国产粗大猛烈18p | 欧美一级视频在线高清观看 | 国产成人精品视频午夜 | 韩国一级淫片视频免费播放 | 美女张开腿给男人捅 | 国产成人3p视频免费观看 | 99久久精品无码一区二区毛片 | 国产精品久久久久免费视频 | 精品久久久久久中文字幕一区 | 黄色一及毛片 | 黄色网址在线免费看 | 国产一区二区三区免费观看 | 九九99re在线视频精品免费 |