German entrepreneur Peter Griesemann and his family were on board the Cessna that crashed into the Baltic Sea on Sunday after a mysterious flight across Europe. Griesemann is known in the Cologne area as a carnivalist. The shock in his club runs deep.
The occupants of an unfortunate plane that crashed over the Baltic Sea after a flight of several hours are a German family of entrepreneurs. Several media reports that the Cologne entrepreneur and hobby pilot Peter Griesemann flew the Cessna 551, his wife Juliane and their daughter Lisa and her boyfriend were also on the plane. They were traveling from Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain to Cologne when the tragedy occurred for unknown reasons. It is unlikely that any of the occupants survived. The search is still ongoing.
Griesemann and his family are well known in the Cologne area. The head of the Griesemann Group, a construction company for industrial plants with 1,600 employees, is active as a carnival artist. As the "Kölner Stadtanzeiger" reports, he is honorary president of the Blaue Funken carnival association. "As an entrepreneur and carnivalist, he made a significant contribution to shaping this Cologne tradition for decades," the newspaper quoted the festival committee as saying. "His heart beat for the Fastelovend and the people he connects. Our thoughts are with the Griesemann family, who we wish a lot of strength in this difficult time."
Griesemann's son Björn, who was not on the plane, is also involved in the Cologne carnival, he was the prince himself in the 2013/14 season. The Blue Sparks confirmed to the "Stadtanzeiger" that Griesemann and his family were on the plane. The flags fly at half-mast in front of the club building. "We know there is little hope that any of them survived," the club said. "But we still want to wait for the results of the search operation on site in the Baltic Sea."
The random flight of the Cessna of an Austrian charter company, which belongs to the Griesemann Group, triggered deployments of Bundeswehr Eurofighters and fighter jets from other European countries on Sunday. The German Air Force announced on Twitter that the Cessna had flown through German airspace. Eurofighter had risen from several locations to accompany the machine. Fighter jets from France, Denmark and Sweden were also sent.
They were supposed to contact the pilot of the private plane, but they couldn't. According to both the French and Swedish armies, their pilots could not see anyone in the Cessna's cockpit. Attempts to make contact by radio also failed. It is possible that there was a pressure drop in the cabin shortly after take-off, as a result of which the occupants lost consciousness.
The Cessna had flown over Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea before crashing into the sea just before 8 p.m. off the Latvian port of Ventspils. The flight was relatively steady, then the machine lost altitude just before the Latvian coast. According to the head of the Swedish search and rescue mission, Lars Antonsson, it crashed "when the tank was empty". So far, no remains of the inmates have been found. Boats and helicopters from Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden continue to search around the crash site.
