UPDATED: German businessman named as owner of jet that crashed in Baltic

BERLIN, Sept 5 (Reuters) – A private jet that crashed into the Baltic Sea off Latvia after flying half way across Europe from Spain without responding to controllers’ calls belonged to German businessman Karl-Peter Griesemann, his company, Quick Air, said on Monday.

The jet, an Austria-registered Cessna 551, left Jerez in southern Spain on Sunday afternoon, turning at Paris and Cologne before flying straight out to the Baltic Sea, where it spiralled into the water east of Gotland, flight tracking data showed.

“I can confirm that it was the private jet of our owner, Karl-Peter Griesemann,” said a spokesperson for Quick Air, an air charter company based in Cologne.

He declined to confirm a report in Cologne newspaper Express that Griesemann was the pilot and that he was accompanied by his wife, 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 evening to aid in the rescue operation.

A wreck, a concentrated waste patch and an oil-like slick had been spotted near the crash site, Latvian search and rescue head Peteris Subbota told Latvian television, adding that no passengers had been found.

German and Danish warplanes were sent up to observe the aircraft as it flew blind over northern Europe on Sunday afternoon but were unable to spot anybody on board.

Griesemann has been a prominent figure in Cologne, the largest city in western Germany, playing a role in the deeply Catholic city’s annual carnival celebrations.

“We’ve learned that the plane has crashed (in the ocean) north-west of the town of Ventspils in Latvia,” a spokesperson for Sweden’s rescue service said. “It has disappeared from the radar.”

German and Danish war planes had earlier been sent to inspect the aircraft as it passed through those countries’ airspace, but were unable to make contact, Johan Wahlstrom of the Swedish Maritime Administration said.

“They could not see anyone in the cockpit,” he said.

A Lithuanian air force helicopter was dispatched to the crash site for search and rescue at neighbouring Latvia’s request, a Lithuanian air force spokesperson said. Latvia said it had sent ships to the scene.

“Our ships are on the way to the position where the plane crash happened,” said Liva Veita, spokesperson of the Latvian Navy.

A Stena Line ferry travelling from Ventspils to Norvik in Sweden was also redirected to the crash site, according to the MarineTraffic website. The website showed a Swedish search and rescue helicopter and airplane at the site as well.

The Lithuanian air force spokesperson said earlier that fighter aircraft from the NATO Baltic Air Police mission in Amari airfield in Estonia had taken off to follow the plane, without giving any more details.

A file photo of a Cessna Citation similar to the one involved in the accident. EPA-EFE/TOMS KALNINS