A Lebanese man holding a Canadian passport was remanded in Cypriot police custody on Thursday after two tonnes of potential bomb-making material was found in his home, police said.

They said the man, 26, whose name was not disclosed, appeared in court in the southern resort town of Larnaca for a hearing held behind closed doors "in the interests of national security".

Lebanese businessman George Obaji's body was found in Cypriot territorial waters after his plane crashed en route to Beirut, his family and authorities said on Thursday.

The chief of Cyprus' aircraft accidents board said earlier that search crews found wreckage belonging to the small aircraft that vanished on Wednesday.