As the Cologne “Express” reported, citing the man’s family environment, the man is said to have controlled the Cessna-type machine. The pilot is said to be the honorary president of the well-known in Cologne carnival society”Blue Sparks”. According to the report, his wife, daughter and their partner were on board.
There was no official information at first. The man’s group of companies said on request that it was not currently making any statements. According to authorities in various European countries, the Austrian-registered Cessna 551 with four people on board was en route from Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain to Cologne on Sunday, but then changed course for an unknown reason and eventually crashed into the Baltic Sea off Latvia .
The OÖN reported:
Fighter planes ascended
Warplanes accompanied the machine on its way through the airspaces of several countries. Their pilots saw no one in the cockpit, and there was no radio contact with the crew. After a relatively steady flight, the Cessna crashed into the sea off the Latvian port of Ventspils on Sunday evening. According to the Latvian aviation authority, boats and helicopters were on site. Bodies were initially not found.
According to the Latvian Sea Rescue Coordination Center, a wreck and debris were discovered in the sea during the night-time search, said Peteris Subbota, head of the agency, on Latvian television. The wreck is now to be brought to the port city of Ventspils.
Many questions about the accident and its cause remained unanswered on Monday. According to the Swedish broadcaster SVT, the flight safety expert Hans Kjäll suspects that there could have been a pressure drop in the cabin of the aircraft, after which the occupants had become unconscious. The plane was flying at an altitude of about 11,000 meters, where the air pressure is low. If there is a drop in pressure at such an altitude, you can expect to become unconscious, he said.
Source: Nachrichten
