Plane crash in the Baltic Sea: What is already known and what is still unclear

Created: 09/08/2022 12:44 p.m

Many questions about the Cessna 551 that crashed in the Baltic Sea are still open. The current status of the plane crash at a glance.

• On Sunday (September 4th) the Cessna 551 with the registration “OE-FGR” crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Latvia. According to the Latvian authorities, all occupants of the crashed plane died.
• The private plane was on its way from Spain to Cologne. Then followed a ghost flight to the Baltic Sea. Even before the crash, communication with the machine was interrupted. Body parts may have been found on Monday evening (September 5), followed shortly afterwards by the wreck.
• The pilot of the unfortunate machine is said to be the well-known Cologne carnival enthusiast Peter Griesemann. His wife Juliane, daughter Lisa and her boyfriend were also on board.

Cologne/Riga – On Sunday, September 4th, a private jet crashed into the Baltic Sea off the Latvian coast. This is a Cessna 551 with the registration number OE-FGR. The plane was actually on its way from Spain to Cologne. It is currently unclear how the accident could have happened. The investigations are ongoing – just like the search for the inmates. What is already known and what is still unclear: The overview.

• Baltic Sea plane crash: what happened?
• Plane crash in the Baltic Sea: the current status?
• Baltic Sea plane crash: All information about the occupants
• The flight path of the Cessna 551 with the registration OE-FGR

Cessna 551: what happened? After a random flight over Europe – a ghost plane crashes in the Baltic Sea

The private plane was on its way from Jerez (southern Spain) to Cologne/Bonn Airport on Sunday. However, the Cessna 551 with the registration “OE-FGR” never arrived there. Communication with the aircraft broke off shortly after take-off – after the pilot reported pressure problems in the cabin.

This even launched interceptors from France, Germany and Denmark. According to the Swedish broadcaster SVT, the flight safety expert Hans Kjäll also suspects that there could have been a pressure drop in the cabin of the aircraft, after which the occupants had become unconscious. This is also confirmed by the fact that the interceptors did not detect any movement in the cockpit of the Cessna.

The private jet flew over Spain, France and Luxembourg on autopilot. At 5:45 p.m. (German summer time) the aircraft entered German airspace. A few minutes later, the Cessna flew over the destination airport in Cologne – without landing. Instead, we continued north-east.

After several course changes, the machine finally circled over the Baltic Sea at 7:40 p.m. (German summer time), a few minutes later contact was lost completely: the Cessna 551 crashed into the sea at 7:44 p.m. west of the Latvian port of Ventspils.

Plane crash in the Baltic Sea: the current status? occupants presumed dead

Many questions are still unclear about the mysterious plane crash off the Latvian coast. After several pieces of debris, the rest of the wreckage of the Cessna was finally found by the Latvian emergency services on Wednesday. This officially marks the end of the search. Since, contrary to expectations, the aircraft did not have a flight recorder (black box) or a voice recorder, it is still very difficult to determine the cause of the accident. The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) is now officially responsible for further investigations.

There is still no trace of the four occupants of the Cessna. Human body parts were discovered near the crash site on Monday evening. The remains were handed over to the criminal police for further investigation. According to the Latvian authorities, all occupants of the crashed machine died.

“It is now clear that there is no hope of finding survivors,” said the head of the Latvian Sea Rescue Coordination Center, Peteris Subbota, on Latvian television on Tuesday evening. According to the finds so far during the search operation in the sea, this is the first conclusion to be drawn about the moment of impact. “The speed at the time of impact was very high and the plane broke up into many small pieces.”

Plane crash Baltic Sea: All information about the occupants – Peter Griesemann and family

Four occupants are said to have been in the Cessna 551. The identity of the passengers has not yet been officially confirmed. However, it should be about Peter Griesemann, his wife Juliane, daughter Lisa and her friend. This is confirmed by the Griesemann Group, where the company founder was. The Blue Sparks, of which Griesemann was President from 2014 to 2018 and most recently Honorary President, confirmed that it should be about Griesemann.

The Cologne entrepreneur was considered a constant in the Cologne carnival. “Peter has moved a lot in the city over the decades as an entrepreneur and as a carnival participant. Peter only had expertise and entrepreneurial spirit, he also had a lot of heart for the people and the Fastelovend,” explains Christoph Kuckelkorn, President of the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee.

In addition to Kuckelkorn and the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee, many other carnival societies sent their condolences. Cologne’s Mayor Henriette Reker also made a statement. This is reported by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . Among other things, she wrote the following sentences to the bereaved: “I received the news of the tragic accident with honest dismay and it fills me with great dismay. My very heartfelt condolences on your immeasurable loss.”

The flight path of the Cessna 551 with the registration OE-FGR

• Editor’s Note: The time is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). In Germany / Central Europe, UTC+1 is standard time and UTC+2 is summer time.
• Sunday, September 4th:
• 12:56 (UTC): The Cessna with registration OE-FGR takes off from Jerez (Spain)
• 1 p.m. (UTC): The private plane flies towards Germany
• 1:44 p.m. (UTC): The Cessna flies west of Madrid
• 15:12 (UTC): The plane flies over Paris (France) after a short route change
• 15:40 (UTC): Pilot Peter Griesemann flies into German airspace for the first time near Gemünd in the Eifel region, but then returns to Luxembourg and Belgium.
• 15:45 (UTC): The Cessna flies into German airspace near Hellenthal (south of Aachen).
• 15:51 (UTC): The plane flies over Troisdorf and Cologne Airport. However, instead of changing course and beginning the approach for landing, the Cessna flies north-east.
• 16:41 (UTC): The Cessna flies over Stralsund, the island of Rügen and heads for the Baltic Sea.
• 16:53 (UTC): The plane is flying over the island of Bornholm (Denmark)
• 17:37 (UTC): The course changes. The Cessna makes a right turn.
• 17:40 (UTC): the machine is circling over the Baltic Sea
• 17:44 (UTC): There is no longer any contact with the Cessna. The plane crashed
• What: flightradar24

(jw mit dpa) The content of this text was updated on Thursday (September 8). New: Added information about the wreck find and current investigations.