The Cologne carnival scene mourns: The Cessna type 551 that crashed into the Baltic Sea on Sunday is said to have been flown by Peter Griesemann – honorary president of the carnival association Blauen Funken in Cologne. This is reported by the “Express”. Griesemann was also an entrepreneur and head of the “Griesemann Group”, which also includes a charter company for private jets, the newspaper reports.
Many questions are still open. The private plane flew on Sunday on the way from Spain to Cologne over the Baltic Sea and crashed into the sea off the coast of Latvia. The Air Force confirmed the plane’s crash on Twitter on Sunday evening.
Previously, all contact with the plane was broken off. According to information from the “Bild” newspaper, the pilot Griesemann, a man, a woman and their daughter were on board.
According to information from the Austrian news agency APA, the jet was registered in Austria and licensed to a German company.
According to initial findings, the pilot may have lost consciousness. Aviation safety expert Hans Kjäll told Swedish news agency TT pressure problems could have caused passengers to lose consciousness. This can happen quickly, especially at altitudes where small aircraft are used.
The coastguard discovered traces of oil on the water and smaller pieces of debris, said Johan Ahlin from the Swedish maritime rescue agency, according to the Swedish broadcaster STV. There is probably no hope for the occupants of the plane.
The “Bild” newspaper reported that the machine reported pressure problems in the cabin after taking off from Jerez in southern Spain. Accordingly, contact with the ground broke off just behind the Iberian Peninsula. In the airspace over France, a unit from the French army initially took over before being replaced by the Bundeswehr.
As a spokesman for the Air Force confirmed to the German Press Agency on Sunday evening, alarm squads consisting of two Eurofighters rose in German airspace to get an idea of the unusual flight behavior. According to media reports, a group from Neuburg an der Donau and later from Rostock-Laage rose first.
As reported by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, when the Cessna 551 aircraft flew over the island of Rügen, it entered Swedish airspace, where it flew south of Gotland and further towards the Gulf of Riga and then crashed into the sea .
An official told the Latvian news agency Leta that the rescue operation is currently in full swing. Air Force forces also wanted to take part in every operation in which a Stena Line passenger ferry was diverted. The ferry should be ready for possible rescue operations.
