A Lithuanian Air Force helicopter has been sent to the crash site for search and rescue at the request of neighboring Latvia, the Lithuanian Air Force said. According to the German newspaper picture there were four passengers on board: the pilot, a couple and their daughter.
The Cessna 551 aircraft registered in Austria had taken a rather erratic course. It flew from Jerez in southern Spain and made two turns, near Paris and Cologne, before crossing the Baltic Sea, passing the Swedish island of Gotland. Shortly after takeoff, contact with air traffic control was lost.
The Cessna eventually crashed into the Baltic Sea northwest of the Latvian town of Ventspils.
Alarmed, NATO mission fighter planes took off from Estonia’s Amari airport to track it. According to the Swedish rescue service, they reported that no one was visible in the cockpit of the Cessna.
The number of occupants and the cause of the crash is not officially known yet, except that the radar showed that the plane lost speed and altitude just before the crash, according to the Swedish rescue service.
The Swedish Coast Guard has sent rescue planes, boats and a helicopter to the crash site. A Lithuanian Air Force helicopter is also on the scene. According to the newspaper aftonbladet rescue services have discovered oil spills and wreckage and are looking for victims.
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