Maritime police divers have begun the procedures to recover the wreckage of the Cessna 152 light aircraft that crashed into the sea last Friday, two miles south of Sagres.
The divers have attached inflatable balloons which will be used to lift the fuselage and the one attached wing from the ocean floor.
The pilot is still missing and a search by the diving team so far has revealed no trace of his remains in the area surrounding the crashed Cessna.
The sunken wreckage "will be floated and towed to the port of Baleeira (pictured), then lifted onto the dock and taken to the air accident investigators based at the airfield in Viseu.
"This is the body that investigates such accidents and it will try to find out what happened," said Carvalho Pinto, the Lagos port commander.
In a twist to this story, the search for the pilot has been extended to the countryside along the cliffs in an area where it was judged that the Cessna flew over before heading out to sea and crashing.
There is a Navy corvette moored above the crash site and a Maritime Police vessel but if the lifting of the wreckage can not be completed today an early start is planned for Tuesday morning.
The Cessna belonged to the Aero Club of Portimão and was used for flight instruction and pleasure flights.
The pilot, missing presumed dead, was José Inacio dos Santos, 74, from Mexilhoeira Grande who has emigrated from Canada to Portugal and who was flying the Cessna for pleasure.
The aircraft ended up crashing less than an hour after take off from Portimão last Friday 12 September and a warning was given by the skipper of the fishing boat Adriano José, at about 11.00am.
Despite not having seen the plane actually crash due to the heavy fog, the fishermen heard the crash that they estimated was less then 100 metres from their boat and were able to point rescue teams to the debris and documents floating in the sea.
The wreckage was found on the ocean floor Sunday morning, but with no sign of the pilot.
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Update: the wreckage of the Cessna 152 was lifted from the sea bed and brought ashore this evening, Monday, and now is at Portimão Municipal Aerodrome, from where it will go to Viseu.
The wreckage was transported to Baleeira port at around 18.30 having been floated by balloons attached by Marine Police divers.
