Body of Cambridge University student who opened plane door mid-flight and fell to her death found after 12-day search
The body of a Cambridge University student who plunged 3,500-feet to her death after she forced open a plane door mid-flight has been found, 12 days after the tragic incident.
We previously reported that Alana Cutland, 19, from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was on a Cessna C168 aircraft with two other people on board — the pilot and Brit researcher Ruth Johnson — when, 10 minutes after takeoff, she undid her seatbelt, unlocked the right door of the plane, and tried to jump out.
Authorities said that Johnson and the pilot both desperately tried to hold onto the 19-year-old's legs for five minutes even as the plane rocked through the air, but they eventually ran out of breath, and let her go out of exhaustion.
Since then, around 400 local people and 15 police officers had been searching for the body in a 40 square kilometer area in Madagascar which includes swamps, a lake, dense forest, and scrubland.
Officials initially feared that it would never be found as it was suspected she had fallen into a zone in the remote Analalava region which is full of carnivorous Fossa felines.
But it was announced this past week that there had been a breakthrough, coincidentally, one day after villagers in Anjajavy sacrificed one of their precious zebu cattle in a bid to enlist the help of their local God in their fruitless search.
The body had been found in a remote area of woodland and scrub, and the local police chief who had been leading the search, Spinola Nomenjahary, confirmed that it had been provisionally identified as belonging to the teen because of her hair color, shoes, and clothing.
"The body was found on the ground," he said. "It was recognized as being Alana from her clothes, hair, and shoes."
Chief Prosper, who is the chief at the village that had been leading the charge in the search, said they faced several difficulties and that his villagers had to use machetes to cut through the thick vegetation.
"Some of the people are searching barefooted because they cannot afford shoes," he revealed. "It is difficult for them because there is sharp grass and stones cutting their feet. There are also mosquitos and snakes, but the people here are used to tough conditions and they can deal with it."
Prosper said he was happy Cutland's family could now get closure."We are very pleased after nearly two weeks of searching to have found her," he was quoted saying. "The body was found just after lunchtime by villagers and they are carrying her back from the search site."
The villagers are now reportedly planning to move the 19-year-old to a tiny airstrip in Anjajavy so it can then be flown by helicopter to the capital Antananarivo, which is 400 miles away.
"The body has been wrapped in a plastic sheet and will be flown to Antananarivo tomorrow by helicopter," Nomenjahary confirmed. "We have already informed the British embassy of the discovery."
A second-year student of Biological Natural Sciences, Cutland was in Madagascar to study a rare species of blue crab as a part of a research trip when the tragic incident unfolded.
She had reportedly been due to stay for eight weeks but cut the trip short to just eight day after speaking to her parents Alison and Neil Cutland, both 63, who advised that she come back home.
Police in Madagascar is said to be looking into the theory that the 19-year-old suffered a severe reaction to anti-malaria drugs during her flight and have confirmed that toxicology tests will be carried out on the teen to determine what medicines she had been taking.