A fundraising attempt to fly a microlight from Britain to Australia has ended in tragedy. Just three-hours after taking off from Gloucestershire Airport forty-nine-year-old Martin Bromage, an experienced microlight pilot, lost contact with his ground support team. Mr. Bromage was heading for the coast of France over the English Channel when he encountered poor weather conditions. A distress call was made to French air traffic control and it is understood that Mr. Bromage had diverted his route from Le Touquet to Abbeville in order to escape the weather. He never made it and his body was picked up by a French patrol vessel just two miles from the coast.

Mr. Bromage had intended to visit eighteen countries as he flew the 11,000 miles to Australia. Last year he successfully completed a journey from Britain to the Nigerian capital of Lagos. This year’s project would have taken about six weeks to complete and was intended to raise £150,000 for the charity set up to help British soldiers who have been wounded in action, Help for Heroes.

Mr. Bromage was well aware of the dangers of crossing the Channel and said that he was prepared for the possibility of being forced to ditch the microlight in the water. He said that he had a life-raft as well as communication equipment and a distress beacon should the worst happen. Dover coastguard confirm that there was a dense fog over the English Channel when Mr. Bromage was attempting his crossing and they suspect that he was trying to return to the U.K. after he realised he would not be able to put down in France.