Non-public Austrian 'ghost airplane' crashes in Baltic Sea, 4 feared lifeless | World News

A non-public jet carrying 4 folks that was as a result of land in Germany however which continued to fly throughout Europe as air site visitors controllers tried unsuccessfully to make contact crashed Sunday off Latvia, authorities stated.

The jet "was flying between Spain and Cologne however when it modified course, air site visitors controllers weren't in a position to make contact", the Latvian civil aviation company stated in an announcement.

Fighter jets from Germany, Denmark and Sweden have been scrambled to attempt to make contact with the crew within the air because the Austrian-registered airplane continued to fly throughout northern Europe, "however they noticed nobody", Swedish search and rescue operation chief Lars Antonsson instructed AFP.

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The airplane, a Cessna 551, flew over Swedish airspace within the Baltic Sea earlier than crashing into the ocean off Ventspils simply earlier than 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

The airplane flew comparatively steadily till it neared the Latvian coast, when it quickly misplaced altitude.

It crashed "when it ran out of gas", Antonsson stated.

The nationalities of the 4 on board weren't instantly recognized.

"Rescue groups with boats and helicopters from Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden are working on the crash web site", the Latvian aviation company stated.

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"No human stays have been discovered", Sweden's Antonsson added.

It's not recognized what induced the airplane to fly off target.

"We've no clarification in any respect, we will solely speculate" about what occurred "however they have been clearly incapacitated on board", Antonsson stated.