By Tanya Acheson : December 5th 1995
The son of a former SDLP councillor is one of six people missing and feared in a Mediterranean plane crash. Dessie Boomer 39, a diesel mechanic, was on board the single engined plane on a 75 minute flight from Tunisia to Malta when it vanished during a violent storm.
A huge rescue operation was launched after the Piper 32 vanished in the early hours of Sunday 200 miles south west of the holiday island but no trace has been found.
Father of five, Mr Boomer, from Banbridge is the son of fomer Belfast City councillor Cormac Boomer. Today he said: "l do not hold out any hope. The search people are saying that they haven't given up hope but all we can nope for is that they find the bodies"
His son. whose children are aged between eight and 15 was working for a Darlington based company employed by the Tunisian government on oilfield work. He was due to return home to Northern Ireland, for Christmas. He was onboard the flight from the Tunisian island of Djerba along with another Briton, a pole and three Maltese including {the pilot). It left at 4.46am and was due at the international airport on the George Cross island at 6.30am.
Last contact with the Piper 32 was at 5.11am when it was 200 miles south west of Malta. The alarm was raised at 6:18am and ships from the US 6th fleet joined with Tunisian and Maltese aircraft in a search operation. The weather was described as "stormy".
Mr. Boomer Snr, a well-known figure in local politics, said at his home in Riverdale, West Belfast, "he had made the trip before and he told me it had been a hair-raising experience. The plane was being bounced around like a rubber ball."
He said his son had been working in Tunisia for four months and had previously worked in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. "We are devastated to think that he came through 25 years living in Andersonstown and then for this to happen" added Mr. Boomer.
A close friend of the family, who live at Larchwood Court. Banbridge said: "His wife Mandy and children are totally devastated. He was a very loving and devoted father and he worked so hard for his family."
Parish priest Fr Matthew O'Hare said the community was stunned to leam of Mr. Boomer's disappearance.
A Maltese government spokesman said military aircraft from the US base in Sigonella, Sicily, had joined the search south of Malta but no trace had been found of survivors or wreckage.