A private jet flying from Jerez-La Parra Airport (XRY/LEJR), Spain to Köln/Bonn-Konrad Adenauer Airport (CGN/EDDK), Germany has crashed in the Baltic Sea after becoming unresponsive causing NATO jets to be scrambled.
The Cessna Citation II left Jerez airport at 14:56 local time on a flight that should have taken about three hours. After climbing to a cruising altitude of 36,000ft the aircraft became unresponsive north of Spain causing interceptor aircraft from several NATO countries to be scrambled to aircraft.
The aircraft continued on its flight path where it failed to descend for Cologne and carried onwards across Germany towards the Baltic Sea where it entered a spiral dive, peaking at a descent rate of around 5000ft per minute and crashed into the sea at 17:44 GMT.
Swedish officials reported that there was apparently no one on the flight deck of the aircraft when NATO jets intercepted. One theory being reported by a German newspaper is that the aircraft suffered a decompression after reporting cabin pressurisation problems after taking off from Jerez but this have not been confirmed.
The flight is eerily similar to a private jet which crashed in South Dakota in 1999 killing PGA Golfer Payne Stewart. The Learjet lost pressure causing all occupants including the pilots to become incapacitated due to hypoxia. The aircraft continued until it ran out of fuel and stalled.
Investigators will now be keen to locate the aircraft to try and determine what caused the aircraft to fly past its destination and crash.
The Cessna Citation II left Jerez airport at 14:56 local time on a flight that should have taken about three hours. After climbing to a cruising altitude of 36,000ft the aircraft became unresponsive north of Spain causing interceptor aircraft from several NATO countries to be scrambled to aircraft.
The aircraft continued on its flight path where it failed to descend for Cologne and carried onwards across Germany towards the Baltic Sea where it entered a spiral dive, peaking at a descent rate of around 5000ft per minute and crashed into the sea at 17:44 GMT.
Swedish officials reported that there was apparently no one on the flight deck of the aircraft when NATO jets intercepted. One theory being reported by a German newspaper is that the aircraft suffered a decompression after reporting cabin pressurisation problems after taking off from Jerez but this have not been confirmed.
The flight is eerily similar to a private jet which crashed in South Dakota in 1999 killing PGA Golfer Payne Stewart. The Learjet lost pressure causing all occupants including the pilots to become incapacitated due to hypoxia. The aircraft continued until it ran out of fuel and stalled.
Investigators will now be keen to locate the aircraft to try and determine what caused the aircraft to fly past its destination and crash.
*Update 6th September
Karl-Peter Griesemann is thought to have been at the helm of the Austria-registered Cessna 551 - which costs around a $1million new - when it left Jerez in southern Spain yesterday afternoon.
The jet flew from Spain, turning at Paris and Cologne before flying straight out into the Baltic Sea.
Off the coast of Latvia the aircraft tumbled out of the air, spiraling before crashing into the waves, according to flight tracking data.
"I can confirm that it was the private jet of our owner, Karl-Peter Griesemann," said a spokesperson for Quick Air, an air charter company based in Cologne. Griesemann and three others were on board the plane, the spokesperson added.
A Cologne newspaper reported that Griesemann was the pilot and that he was accompanied by his wife Juliane, daughter and trained pilot Lisa, 26, and her boyfriend Paul.
Aircraft Information:
Owner/Operator: Private Owner
Aircraft: Cessna 551
Registration: OE-FGR
Serial Number: 551-0021
First Flew: October 1979
Age: 42 Yrs
THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME
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