The pilot, 58, was a hotel owner in the northwest England town of Chester. Although he did not fly professionally, he held commercial licenses for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In 2002 he had replaced his first airplane, a 160 hp fixed-gear Socata Tampico, with a 1970 Cessna 310, which he flew for 300 hours before grounding it for a thorough refurbishment that ended up taking five years. The 310 returned to service in August 2013, at which time the pilot renewed his multiengine rating.
A few days later, he flew in the 310 to Seo de Urgel in eastern Spain, near the tiny principality of Andorra, where he had a house. After a stay of several weeks during which he made a number of flights between airfields in Spain and France, he flew from Seo de Urgel to Lognes, 10 miles east of Paris. A week later, he and a companion set off on the return flight to Hawarden Airport, just outside Chester.
