The jet, an Austrian-owned Cessna 551, left Jerez in southern Spain on Sunday afternoon, circling Paris and Cologne before flying straight into the Baltic Sea, where it crashed into the water east of Gotland, according to flight tracking data. “I can confirm that it was the private jet of our owner, Karl-Peter Griesemann,” said a spokesman for Quick Air, a Cologne-based charter company. He refused to confirm a report by Cologne’s Express newspaper that Griesemann was the pilot and that he was accompanied by his wife and daughter and his daughter’s boyfriend. The cause of the crash is not yet known. Aircraft from several countries and a passenger ferry headed to the crash site on Sunday afternoon to help with the rescue operation. Wreckage, a compacted patch of debris and an oil slick were found near the crash site, Latvia’s search and rescue chief Peteris Subbota told Latvian television, adding that no passengers were found. German and Danish warplanes were sent to watch the plane as it flew blindly over northern Europe on Sunday afternoon, but were unable to locate anyone on board. Griesemann is a prominent figure in Cologne, western Germany’s largest city, playing a role in the deeply Catholic city’s annual carnival celebrations. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. This article was amended on 5 September 2022. Due to an error in the text provided by a service, an earlier version incorrectly named Karl-Peter Griesemann as “Georg Griesemann”.
