The plane in which the author of The Little Prince met his end has been discovered by a French underwater salvage team. The wartime pilot was on a reconnaissance mission when his plane was lost at sea in 1944, only a year after the publication of the children's book that gave him cult status. According the the BBC News report, the salvers were able to distinguish the plane's serial number, and so confirm its identity. However, Antoine de Saint-Exupery's body was not inside the cock-pit, and mystery still shrouds the reason for the plane's crash: the weather was fine and clear, and "No bullet holes were found, nor was there evidence of a bent propeller, researchers said."('French find Saint-Exupery's plane,' BBC News, 7 April 2004).