By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer

PARIS - It was one of French aviation's enduring mysteries: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the pilot and author of the beloved tale "The Little Prince," took off on a World War II spy mission for the Allies and was never seen again.

After 60 years, officials have confirmed that the twisted wreckage of a Lockheed Lightning P-38, found on the Mediterranean seabed not far from the rugged cliffs of Provence, belonged to Saint-Exupery, Air Force Capt. Frederic Solano said Wednesday.

In France, the discovery is akin to solving the mystery of where Amelia Earhart's plane went down in the Pacific Ocean in 1937. [...]

The plane, smashed into hundreds of pieces, lies 100 to 300 feet below the surface, less than three miles from the coast between Marseille and Cassis. The key find was a tail piece bearing a tiny serial number, 2734 L — the same as Saint-Exupery's, Castellano said.

Famous for his bravery, Saint-Exupery was selected for the dangerous mission of collecting data on German troop movements in the Rhone River Valley. His plane vanished in the night on July 31, 1944, when he was 44. [...]