Published: Less than 30 min ago
Updated: Less than 20 min ago
The pilot shall, according to the German Bildhaving reported problems with the pressure in the cabin shortly after the start in Jerez.
Aviation expert Christer Åhström believes that this may be the cause of the crash.
– But it is not certain. In many cases, no reasonable explanation can be found, he says.
At 19.45 an Austrian Cessna crashed in the Baltic Sea off Latvia. The plane took off from Jerez in Spain and was going to Cologne in Germany.
But the plane flew past the German city and could not be contacted.
Flight expert Christer Åhström followed the drama, which he calls “ghost flight”.
– Some ghost flights like this have occurred earlier in history, he says.
No reasonable explanation
He cannot directly point to any reasonable explanation for what could have happened to the Cessnan.
– A pilot could suffer an acute illness and become incapacitated, as they say. But it is very unlikely that the other one would be either, he says.
Another explanation could be that the plane was hijacked.
– But it seems very far-fetched and is not particularly likely, says Christer Åhström.
According to the German newspaper Bild, the pilot of the plane must have reported that there was a problem with the pressure in the cabin after take-off.
– There is a recent case of that when an airplane in Greece, a large Boeing, suffered a momentary drop in pressure at high altitude. Then the pilots were unconscious in their seats, says Christer Åhström and adds:
– It can happen quickly, you can lose consciousness in less than a minute.
Extensive work awaits
Regardless of the reason for the “ghost flight” and the crash, a great deal of work is now awaiting to investigate the incident.
– You know where the impact is. It is necessary to carry out diving. Find the wreckage and find the black box, or boxes as it is. There is the recording as well as the technical part with everything that happened and was said, says Christer Åhström.
It will also be important to find the people and recover the bodies.
– The autopsy of the people, the black boxes and all other information that can be obtained is required to put this puzzle together and get answers to all the questions. It becomes real detective work.