Parts of the bodies were found today in the Baltic Sea where a private plane mysteriously crashed off the coast of Latvia last weekend. Previously, the wreckage of the Cessna-551 was found. In the accident, wealthy German businessman Karl Peter Griesemann (72 years old), as well as his wife (68), daughter (26) and son-in-law (27) were killed.
Griesemann is a well-known name in the business world in Cologne. He heads the Griesemann Gruppe, a large engineering company engaged in the construction and maintenance of industrial facilities. The company includes a private jet charter company, GG Rent, based in Bergisch Gladbach. The aircraft in question was also registered there. Griesemann was also active in Cologne’s carnival life.
His daughter Lisa made the news last year when she and boyfriend Paul Vollmer, at the age of 25, bought the famous Dreilindenhof riding school in Wachtberg-Niederbachem in Germany from Baron Edouard de Rothschild. International auction house Sothebys arranged the purchase. The property was approximately 20 hectares. Qatar’s royal family, among others, trained their horses there.
According to the Spanish newspaper Diario de Seville The family owns a house in Zahara de los Atunes in southern Spain, Costa de la Luz, and regularly travels back and forth to Colonia. Peter, his wife Julian, his daughter Lisa, and her boyfriend Paul often took their dogs with them.
wrong path
The Austrian-registered plane was on its way from Jerez in southern Spain to Cologne in Germany, but continued on an erratic course over the Baltic Sea. It turned twice, near Paris and Cologne, then across the sea, passing through the Swedish island of Gotland. NATO warplanes stationed in Estonia took off to follow the planes. NATO pilots reported that they did not see anyone in the cockpit of the Cessna, according to the Swedish rescue service.
Nothing is known about the cause of the accident. Aviation experts say the drop in pressure may have caused cabin crew to faint. The plane may have continued to fly uncontrollably until it crashed. This might also explain why daughter Lisa – a pilot herself – wouldn’t take over the plane, if something happened to her father.
Fuel may run out
Rescue work will continue in the coming days. An underwater drone will be used for this, among other things. It is unclear whether Cessna has a flight recorder that can explain exactly what happened.
The plane—which had been operating around the clock for 42 years—was on the road for four hours and 51 minutes. The fuel may have run out. It flew 36,000 feet and finally crashed at 2,500 meters per minute.
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