According to information from Flightradar website, in the evening on Sunday, 4 September, an Austrian registered private passenger plane crashed in the Baltic Sea not far from Ventspils. This information is confirmed by Latvian Civil Aviation Agency (CAA).
Reuters reports the private plane Cessna 551 left southern Spain and was supposed to land in Cologne, Germany.
The aircraft changed its course twice – in Paris and Cologne. Then the aircraft flew over the Baltic Sea, passing Sweden’s Gotland Island.
Photo: Flightradar24.comAt 20:37 p.m. radars showed the aircraft was rapidly losing altitude and speed. After that the aircraft disappeared from radars.
A Facebook user published a video, possibly depicting the aircraft flying close to the surface of water over the Baltic Sea shortly before crashing.
The pilot did not respond to communications from air control. Sweden scrambled fighter jets to intercept in response to this, which is normal practice to situations like this. According to Swedish officials, Germany and Denmark scrambled their own interceptors to check on the aircraft. However, they failed to make contact with the private aircraft.
Fighter pilots report seeing no people inside the aircraft’s cockpit. German newspaper Bild reports that there were four people on board – the pilot, a man, a woman, and their daughter. After leaving Spain the aircraft reported pressure problems in the cockpit.
Bild also reports that the pilot may have lost consciousness mid-flight.
Aviation safety expert Hans Kjäll told Swedish news agency T that passengers may have lost consciousness as well due to pressure problems.
The crashed aircraft was registered with some German company based in Austria. According to Reuters, the company registered as the owner of the aircraft has yet to respond to calls, so no comments are available at this time.
Latvian Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks spoke with Minister of the Interior Kristaps Eklons, as the minister wrote on Twitter. Latvian National Armed Forces have been deployed in the area to commence search and rescue. Rescue ship KA-14 Astra was deployed as well.
Saistībā ar šovakar Baltijas jūrā netālu no Ventspils avarējušās privātās lidmašīnas glābšanas darbiem esmu sazinājies ar Iekšlietu ministru Kristapu Eklonu. Šobrīd glābšanas operācijā iesaistījusies arī @Latvijas_armija ar meklēšanas un glābšanas kuģi KA-14 “Astra”.
— Artis Pabriks (@Pabriks) September 4, 2022
Reuters also reports that, following Latvia’s request, Lithuania has sent its air force helicopter to assist with search and rescue. Stena Line ferry, which was on its way from Ventspils to Sweden, has changed course towards the crash site, according to information available on MarineTraffic website.
In the morning on Monday, 5 September, the chief of Latvian National Armed Forces Search and Rescue Centre Pēteris Subbota told TV3 programme 900 seconds that search and rescue continued the whole night. However, all that was found was part of the wreckage of the aircraft. What was found is now on its way to Ventspils.
According to Subbota, no survivors from the crashed aircraft have been found so far.
Current meteorological conditions are beneficial for search and rescue efforts. Latvian State Border Guard helicopter is planned to be deployed over the site. Once the area has been searched, decisions will be made regarding continued search and rescue efforts, added Subbota.
The search continues within 6×6 km large area, where the sea depth is about 60 m. The search is made easier by the fact that rescuers know the exact time and place of the crash, Subbota told LTV.