2022 Baltic Sea Cessna Citation crash
A Cessna 551 Citation II/SP, similar to the aircraft involved in the crash | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 4 September 2022 17:31 (GMT) |
| Summary | Crashed into the sea; under investigation |
| Site | Baltic Sea near Ventspils, Latvia 57°39′54″N 21°5′38.4″E / 57.66500°N 21.094000°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 551 Citation II/SP |
| Operator | GG Rent GmbH |
| Registration | OE-FGR |
| Flight origin | Jerez Airport, Spain |
| Destination | Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany |
| Occupants | 4 |
| Passengers | 3 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 4 September 2022, a chartered Cessna 551 business jet registered in Austria was scheduled to fly from Jerez, Spain, to Cologne, Germany. Early in the flight, after takeoff, the aircraft's pilot notified air traffic control about a cabin pressure malfunction. After the aircraft passed the Iberian Peninsula, no further contact could be established.
The aircraft, which climbed to its assigned altitude at 36,000 feet (11,000 m), slightly turned near Paris and Cologne, where it failed to make a landing, and continued straight on its northeastern course, flying over Germany and then out for almost two hours and 1,120 kilometres (700 mi; 600 nmi) over the Baltic Sea near Denmark and Sweden. Fuel was eventually exhausted when the aircraft was over the Baltic Sea, approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi; 20 nmi) off Ventspils, Latvia, and crashed into the water in a spiral dive after an uncontrolled descent.