The Austrian private aircraft built in 1979 is said to have taken off from Jerez in southern Spain and crashed into the Baltic Sea on the way to Cologne after almost five hours of flight time. This is reported by Swedish media such as the daily newspapers “Dagens Nyheter” and “Aftonbladet”.
Four people are said to have been on board the Cessna 551 with flight number OE-FGR. It is said to be the 72-year-old owner of the plane, his wife, 26-year-old daughter and a 27-year-old man. According to “Express”, the pilot is Peter Griesemann, honorary president of the Blaue Funken carnival association in Cologne.
According to “Express”, Griesemann belonged to the Griesemann Group. This also includes a charter company for private jets. According to the newspaper, the company GG Rent has its headquarters in Bergisch Gladbach. The family also includes son Björn, who was apparently not on board the machine.
The occupants had not yet been found on Monday morning. The sea rescue search operation led by Latvia is taking place in an area approximately six by six kilometers in size. Here the Baltic Sea is 60 meters deep.
Contact with the aircraft was lost during the flight over north-eastern France, it is said. The ghost machine flew past Cologne without landing. According to initial findings, the pilot may have lost consciousness. There may have been a pressure drop in the cabin at an altitude of around 11,000 meters. This could have led to the unconsciousness of all occupants.
As a spokesman for the Air Force of the German Press Agency confirmed on Sunday evening, after the contact was lost, alarm squads consisting of two Eurofighters rose in German airspace to get an idea of the unusual flight behavior. Later Danish fighter pilots took over. According to reports, they then saw the plane crash into the sea.
The Swedish coast guard finally found oil stains and wreckage at the suspected crash site just outside the Latvian city of Ventspils, reports Aftonbladet.
“This plane crashed. The chances of finding survivors are minimal,” confirms Lars Antonsson from the Swedish Sea and Air Rescue Center.
Why the machine deviated from the course remained unclear. “We have no explanation at all, we can only speculate,” said Antonsson. “But they were clearly not operational on board.”
The Latvian Coast Guard is also on its way, since the crash happened in Latvian airspace. After the start, the machine reported pressure problems in the cabin, reports the “Bild” newspaper.
Shortly behind the Iberian Peninsula, contact with the machine was lost. As the plane passed Cologne Airport, where it was scheduled to land, air traffic control tried to contact the pilot but received no reply. A squad of the French army took over in the airspace over France, before a squad from Neuburg an der Donau and later from Rostock-Laage took off in German airspace.
Fighter jets from Germany and Denmark did not see anyone in the cockpit, says Johan Wahlström from the Swedish Maritime Administration. As Swedish media continue to report, the tornadoes did not find out any information and turned off again. Shortly before 7 p.m. the plane passed Cologne and then flew over the island of Rügen. The machine passed the Swedish Gotland south and then continued the journey towards Riga in Latvia, FlightRadar reconstructs the route.
The jet sank shortly before the Baltic coast and lost 5,000 meters in altitude within a few minutes. The plane disappeared from the radar at around 8 p.m., they say. The Swedish coast guard then sent a helicopter and a boat to the suspected crash site. Other backgrounds, including the occupants of the aircraft, are still unclear.
