VILNIUS (Reuters) -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 out a set vacation spot, in accordance with 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 shedding velocity and altitude.
“We have 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.”
A Lithuanian air drive helicopter was dispatched to the crash web site for search and rescue at neighbouring Latvia’s request, a Lithuanian air drive spokesperson mentioned. Spokespeople for the Latvian air visitors management and rescue companies weren’t instantly obtainable.
NATO fighter plane earlier took off to observe the aircraft, a Lithuanian airforce spokesperson advised Reuters. The Swedish rescue service mentioned they’d reported that nobody was seen within the Cessna’s cockpit.
The fighter plane had been from the NATO Baltic Air Police mission in Amari airfield in Estonia, the Lithuanian airforce spokesperson advised Reuters.
The mission within the airbase at the moment consists of 4 Eurofighter jets of the German Air Drive, in accordance with NATO. The spokesperson didn’t say what number of jets there have been or remark additional.