A private Austrian plane with four people on board, which was to land in Germany but no longer responded to air traffic controllers, crashed at sea off Latvia on Sunday, Swedish authorities announced.
German, Danish and Swedish fighter planes were rushed to try to make contact with the crew of the ghost plane which was continuing its flight over northern Europe.
"
But they didn't see anyone
," Swedish rescue chief Lars Antonsson said.
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The private plane, which had taken off from Jerez in Spain and was due to land in Cologne in Germany, entered Swedish airspace in the Baltic Sea before crashing into the waves off Ventspils, Latvia, shortly before 8 p.m. local time.
The plane had a relatively constant path until it approached the Latvian coast, when it rapidly lost altitude.
The aircraft fell “
when it ran out of fuel
,” Antonsson said.
The nationalities of the four people on board were not disclosed.
According to Antonsson, Latvian rescue teams are directing operations at the scene of the tragedy, with the help of a plane and a helicopter from the Swedish coast guard.
"
No human remains have been found
," he said.
The reasons for the tragedy remain unknown for the moment.
“
We have no explanation, we can only speculate
,” Antonsson explained.
"
But on board, they were clearly unable
" to react.
Latvian authorities have made no statement regarding the crash.