North London civil servant feared dead after skydive plane crashed in front of horrified tourists

A civil servant is feared dead after the skydiving plane she was travelling in crashed off a popular tourist beach in Mexico as holidaymakers looked on in horror.

Varsha Maisuria, 42, and her instructor Robin Ballachey are understood to have become entangled with the Cessna 180 aircraft as they left the plane on a tandem skydive.
The pilot is believed to have descended close to the surface of the sea just 500m from the popular tourist resort of Las Glorias Beach, Puerto Vallarta, where the plane crashed.
The pilot and two male passengers survived, but search and rescue teams are still working to find Ms Maisuria and US national Ms Ballachey after the crash on Thursday at around 3,40pm local time. The small plane is understood to have sunk 1,000m to the sea bed.
Her younger brother, who asked not to be named, said: “We are absolutely distraught. She was the only daughter and the eldest child in our family.
“It happened next to one of the leading resorts in Mexico and we have been contacted by some holidaymakers who said they saw the whole thing.
“But what we understand is that by the time search and rescue teams got there, there was no sign of my sister or the lady instructor.”
Holidaymaker Mary O'Grady, from San Francisco, wrote on Facebook: “I watched this terrible tragedy unfold on Thursday while on vacation in Mexico. I am still in shock."
Ms Maisuria, a Foreign Office official, from Hendon, had been on holiday near the resort with a friend. She had signed up for her first-ever skydiving trip with SkyDive Vallarta before her scheduled return flight on Saturday.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of a British national missing in Mexico and we are providing consular assistance.”
Puerto Vallarta off the west coast of Mexico is an increasingly popular destination among British tourists after the recent introduction of 12-hour direct flights from London. The area has long been popular with American and Canadian holidaymakers looking to experience the traditional Mexican way of life.