Footage of the moment a fighter jet escorted a ‘ghost plane’ that flew for two hours before crashing into the Baltic Sea on Sunday has purportedly emerged today, as body parts were discovered by a search team.
The jet flew unmanned across northern Germany and out over the sea, before it came down around 20 miles off the coast of Latvia after running out of fuel.
Aviation experts have said all four passengers on-board the private aircraft likely passed out due to a drop in pressure.
NATO jets scrambled to intercept the plane which stopped responding to controllers’ calls after problems were reported in the cabin, but were unable to see or contact anyone in the cockpit, German tabloid Bild reported.
On Tuesday, the Latvian navy said body parts have been discovered in the area of the Baltic Sea where the plane crashed. ‘We have found several body parts that may belong to the missing,’ spokesperson Liva Veita told Norway’s TV2.
Footage of the moment a fighter jet escorted a ‘ghost plane’ that flew for two hours before crashing into the Baltic Sea on Sunday has emerged today (pictured), as body parts were discovered by a search team scouring the site of the crash
The jet flew unmanned across northern Germany and out over the sea, before it came down around 20 miles off the coast of Latvia after running out of fuel
The plane turned twice, at Paris and Cologne, before heading straight out over the Baltic, passing near the Swedish island of Gotland. It spiralled downwards before crashing
Latvia’s announcement came as video from the ground below emerged showing the moment a fighter jet intercepted the private aircraft as it barrelled over Germany and towards the Baltic Sea.
The sleek Austrian-registered Cessna 551 aircraft, seen in the footage with a blue underbelly, can be seen flying along-side a fighter jet with red markings.
The fighter plane reportedly tried to make contact with the Cessna, which at the time was flying directly ahead without anyone at the controls. The fighter can be seen flying to the left of the private aircraft, which is leaving a vapour trail behind it.
According to Bild, at the time the video was taken, it was still unclear what was going on-board. A fighter jet pilot reported seeing some movement in the cabin, but no one in the cockpit, and the pilot never recieved an answer to their calls.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the private plane, carrying four people, shortly after it took off from the Spanish city of Jerez on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities in Latvia said Monday that a search and rescue operation has so far found no sign of survivors from the small plane, that crashed off the country’s coast.
Peteris Subbota, chief of the Latvian military’s Marine Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, told Latvian Radio on Monday that one piece of the plane had been found on the sea. On Tuesday, the Latvian navy reported finding body parts. They have located parts of the plane.
Karl-Peter Griesemann, 72, pictured with his wife Juliane, has been named as the pilot of the plane which crashed near Latvia yesterday
Daughter Lisa, 26, who is a trained pilot and a keen horse rider, and her boyfriend Paul (pictured together) were also on board the Austria-registered Cessna 551
A German businessman who ran one of Cologne’s oldest carnival societies was on Monday named as the pilot of the plant.
Karl-Peter Griesemann, 72, the head of private air ambulance company Quick Air, was flying from Jerez in Spain to Cologne when he diverted in to the Baltic Sea and spiralled into the water near Latvia, according to Bild.
His wife, Juliane, daughter Lisa, 26, who is a trained pilot, and her boyfriend Paul were also on board the Cessna 551.
The family was in southern Spain where they own a lavish holiday home and they were returning to their main house in Cologne.
Mr Griesmann was also head of the Griesmann Group, based in Cologne and specialising in construction projects and large industrial plants, and was president of the annual Cologne carnival, one of the largest in Germany.
‘I can confirm that it was the private jet of our owner, Karl-Peter Griesemann,’ said a spokesperson for Quick Air.
The Austrian-registered Cessna 551 aircraft was flying from Jerez in southern Spain. File image
The family was in southern Spain where they own a lavish holiday home and they were returning to their main house in Cologne
Aircraft from several countries and a passenger ferry headed to the crash site on Sunday evening to aid in the rescue operation.
A wreck, a concentrated waste patch and an oil-like slick had been spotted near the crash site, Latvian search and rescue head Peteris Subbota told Latvian television, adding that no passengers had been found.
The jet ‘was flying between Spain and Cologne but when it changed course, air traffic controllers were not able to make contact’, the Latvian civil aviation agency said in a statement.
After taking off from Jerez in southern Spain just before 3pm, the aircraft turned twice, at Paris and Cologne, before heading straight out over the Baltic, passing near the Swedish island of Gotland.
Mr Griesmann was president of the annual Cologne carnival, one of the largest in Germany
Just after 7.30pm, it was listed on the flight tracker as rapidly losing speed and altitude.
‘We’ve learned that the plane has crashed (in the ocean) north-west of the town of Ventspils in Latvia,’ a spokesperson for Sweden’s rescue service said.
‘It has disappeared from the radar.’
Authorities said that the plane ‘ran out of fuel’, resulting in it crashing into the Baltic Sea.
The Swedish Maritime Administration sent rescue boats, planes and a helicopter to the crash site, with the country’s coast guards confirming that the wreckage has been found.
Mr Antonsson said that he chance of finding survivors from the crash is ‘minimal’.
Latvian and Swedish rescue and coast guard vessels were patrolling the crash site and a nearby passenger ferry was alerted to help in the efforts.
A Lithuanian air force helicopter was also dispatched for search and rescue at neighbouring Latvia’s request, a Lithuanian air force spokesperson said.
They added that the fighter aircraft were from the NATO Baltic Air Police mission in Amari airfield in Estonia.
The mission in the airbase currently consists of four Eurofighter jets of the German Air Force, according to NATO. The spokesperson did not say how many jets there were or comment further.
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