VILNIUS – A non-public Cessna aircraft crashed off the coast of Latvia on Sunday night, Sweden’s rescue service mentioned, after NATO scrambled jets to observe its erratic course.
The Austrian-registered Cessna 551 plane was flying from Jerez in southern Spain, from the place it took off at 1256 GMT with no set vacation spot, in response to FlightRadar24 web site.
It turned twice, at Paris and Cologne, earlier than heading straight out over the Baltic, passing close to the Swedish island of Gotland. At 1737 GMT it was listed on the flight tracker as quickly dropping velocity and altitude.
“We’ve realized that the aircraft has crashed (within the ocean) north-west of the city of Ventspils in Latvia,” a spokesperson for Sweden’s rescue service mentioned. “It has disappeared from the radar.”
German and Danish conflict planes had earlier been despatched to examine the plane because it handed via these international locations’ airspace, however have been unable to make contact, Johan Wahlstrom of the Swedish Maritime Administration mentioned.
“They might not see anybody within the cockpit,” he mentioned.
German newspaper Bild reported that the aircraft was carrying the pilot, a person, a girl, and an individual it described as a daughter, with out sourcing the knowledge.
A Lithuanian air pressure helicopter was dispatched to the crash website for search and rescue at neighbouring Latvia’s request, a Lithuanian air pressure spokesperson mentioned. Latvia mentioned it had despatched ships to the scene.
“Our ships are on the best way to the place the place the aircraft crash occurred,” mentioned Liva Veita, spokesperson of the Latvian Navy.
A Stena Line ferry travelling from Ventspils to Norvik in Sweden was additionally redirected to the crash website, in response to the MarineTraffic web site. The web site confirmed a Swedish search and rescue helicopter and airplane on the website as nicely.
The Lithuanian air pressure spokesperson mentioned earlier that fighter plane from the NATO Baltic Air Police mission in Amari airfield in Estonia had taken off to observe the aircraft, with out giving any extra particulars.
The corporate listed because the plane’s proprietor in Austria’s plane register, Cologne-registered GG Lease, couldn't instantly be reached for remark.
(This story corrects reported particulars of individuals on board, paragraph 7)
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