The Cessna 551 flown by a Cologne businessman and which crashed in the Baltic Sea at the beginning of September is not recovered. “We decided not to salvage the aircraft because no new findings are to be expected,” said a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) on Wednesday.
The authority had previously published an interim report stating that a loss of pressure in the cabin had led to the inability of those on board to act. The 72-year-old pilot started in Jerez, Spain, with three passengers and was headed for Cologne.
Crashed off the coast of Latvia
The aircraft continued to fly in a northeasterly direction until it crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Latvia. It fell into the sea west of the Latvian port city of Ventspils. Rescue workers found the remains of the crashed machine about 200 meters from the original search location at a depth of about 60 meters. There was no longer any hope of survivors.
The BFU went on to say that around noon the pilot reported problems with the air conditioning and pressure equalization to air traffic control in Madrid and asked for permission to leave the altitude quickly. Clear background noises could be heard during this radio message, after which the pilot stopped responding. Two pilots of an alerted French fighter said they saw no external damage to the plane and no activity on board.
Photographs show the aircraft as well as the incapacitated pilot and his unused oxygen mask hanging in place in the cockpit. The Cesna continued to fly over Cologne in the direction of the Baltic Sea, accompanied by the German Air Force. In the evening the uncontrolled descent began. A black box with vocal cord recording and flight recorder is not required for the model.
The pilot had around 1,700 hours of flight experience, and one of the passengers held a commercial pilot’s license years ago, the BFU wrote.
