The bodies of a Sussex pilot and his family have been recovered from the wreckage of their plane.

The two adults and one child were killed when their Piper PA 34 Seneca aircraft ploughed into a mountainside in the Alps after flying from Shoreham to France.

It is believed the pilot is an American businessman with links to Sussex.

They had taken off from Shoreham for a flight to the Mediterranean resort of Cannes at 10.30am on Saturday.

French air traffic controllers lost contact with the twin engine plane as it approached Grenoble on Saturday afternoon.

A major search was launched but the wreckage was not discovered until yesterday morning.

The remains of the aircraft were scattered over the mountainside at an altitude of 6,431ft in the Vercors, part of the Isere region of the French Alps.

An American passport belonging to the pilot was found with the plane. It indicated he had lived or worked in Britain for about six years.

Gilles Barsacq, secretary general of the prefecture in Isere, confirmed the family was thought to be from America originally but living in Britain.

They died instantly when the plane lost control in a snowstorm and slammed into the side of a mountain.

Mr Barsacq said the pilot contacted air traffic control at about 2pm to say he was in trouble but the twin-engine plane disappeared from radar screens moments later.

Helicopters were scrambled to try to locate the plane but rescue workers struggled in the weather conditions and could not begin a proper search until late on Saturday evening.

The operation, involving up to 100 men and at least five helicopters, lasted through the night and into yesterday morning.

A mountain rescue team, which had set out on foot, found the plane just before midday yesterday.

Mr Barsacq said it appeared to have hit a rock face and broke apart on impact, killing all three on board instantly.

The bodies were a man, woman and child but Mr Barsacq said he could not give any more details about their age or nationality, other than that the pilot had an American passport.

John Haffenden, airport manager at Shoreham, said: "This is obviously a tragedy and our thoughts are with the next of kin of those involved.

"The aircraft was based at Shoreham and made regular trips from here to airports in the UK and abroad.

"I have met the pilot but we are not releasing any details about him or the two passengers until their next of kin have been informed."

It is understood Sussex Police have been asked to check an address in the Brighton area and have passed on details to the authorities in the US.

Chrystelle Aubert, at the Prefecture de L'Isere, said rescue teams discovered the crash site at 11.55am yesterday.

She said: "It was found at an altitude of 1,960m, on a very steep and difficult to reach section of the mountain."

Rescuers initially sent out about 40 people from the emergency services on Saturday at 2pm, along with mountain specialists and a helicopter in the direction of the plane's final signal before it lost contact.

She said: "They went out again on Saturday night but the weather was very bad and it was impossible. They went back on Sunday morning and finally found the fallen plane at about 11.50am."

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said one body was confirmed to be that of a US citizen, while the nationalities of the other two victims were still unknown.

The group appeared to be a couple and their child, she added.