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Four people are feared to have died after a private plane mysteriously crashed off the coast of Latvia Sunday (September 4) night, NBC News reports.
An Austrian-registered Cessna 551 appeared to change course while flying from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain to Cologne, Germany and air traffic controllers scrambled to make communication with the crew as it lost speed and altitude, Latvia's civil aviation authority said in a statement.
The plane was meant to carry four passengers, however, inspectors didn't find anyone in the cockpit, which leads to speculation about what caused the crash.
The private jet belonged to German businessman Georg Griesemann, his company, Quick Air, confirmed to Reuters on Monday (September 5), though the company didn't confirm whether Griesemann or any of his family members were onboard at the time of the crash.
The plane departed from Jerez Airport at around 12:56 p.m. local time and appeared to turn at Paris, France and again at Cologne before fling over Gotland, Sweden's largest island, and later being listed as losing speed and altitude, according to the FlightRadar24 website.
“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 via NBC News. “It has disappeared from the radar.”
German and Danish war planes also responded as the plane passed through their airspace but were unsuccessful in making contact with the aircraft, according to Johan Wahlstrom of the Swedish Maritime Administration.
“They could not see anyone in the cockpit,” Wahlstrom said.
Authorities found a patch of waste and an oil-like slick near the scene of the crash site, however, no passengers were located, according to rescue head Peteris Subbota via Latvian television.