Two Britons who were killed in a light-plane crash in the south of France on Wednesday had been 'on the trip of a lifetime' whose destination was Malta, according to the Daily Mirror.

Their aircraft were among several planes who had set off from Eshott Airfield in Northumberland on Sunday and were due in Malta this Saturday.

The pilot of the plane was 37-year-old Andrew Buck. The other man killed, 18, was a passenger and is yet to be named.

A second plane which is thought to have been flying in formation performed an emergency landing however the incidents are not being linked by investigators. The pilot of that plane was unhurt.

The incidents occurred over the Maddalena Pass, on the Alpine border with Italy.

The flights had taken off from the Barcelonnette/Saint-Pons aerodrome shortly before the fatal crash.

Richard Pike, director of Purple Aviation, based in Felton, Northumberland, told the Mirror the trip from Newcastle to Malta was meant to be "the trip of a lifetime".

The planes flew in a series of stages and were scheduled to reach Malta on Saturday.

“Everyone involved has been devastated by this tragic accident," he told the newspaper. 

The cause of the crash is not known.