Missing plane over Baltic Sea

Yesterday private plane went missing over Baltic Sea. The plane was heading from Älvängen, Sweden to Klaipėda, Lithuania with 2 lithuanian pilots, but the plane never arrived to it's destination. The pilots were about 60-year old and experienced pilots. Currently both Sweden and Lithuania are trying to find the missing plane with helicopters, ships and planes. At the moment there are no signs of the plane and search is still underway. The conditions are currently very poor for searching, with 2-meters high waves and strong wind.

The plane was Soviet-made Antonov An-2, and owned by Klaipeda Airlines. It was made for 12 passengers. The plane was apparently in good condition. The searching area is about 100 nmi from the coast of Lithuania.

The plane was in Lithuanian airspace and contact to Palanga Airport, but the signal suddenly disappeared.

I don't find much coverage about this, but I find interesting that one article says "An-2 Aircraft Feared Shot Down Over Lithuania"

"I know that they were in Lithuanian airspace and were in contact with Palanga Airport, but then the signal disappeared. Maybe the plane got shot down, maybe something else,"
- The head of Klaipeda Airlines
sputniknews.com...

Lithu anian plane with 2 on board missing over Baltic Sea - STL Today

Finnish source

Funny thing, is that the Wiki AN-2 page has been updated to the 17th and that the two pilots were killed??

"As of February 14, 2015 there have been 470 hull-loss accidents of An-2, claiming a total of 486 human lives. One of the most recent accidents occurred around 6:45 in the afternoon on 17 May, 2015 in the Baltic Sea, where an Antonov An-2 operated by Klaipėdos avialinijos was operating a non-scheduled flight from Gothenburg to the Klaipėda and crashed, killing all 2 crew members on board."

a reply to: smurfy


I hope russians has nothing to do with that. They are flying over Baltic Sea without transponder turn on.

Plane? - Engine problem?
Looking forward for more informations.

originally posted by: smurfy
Funny thing, is that the Wiki AN-2 page has been updated to the 17th and that the two pilots were killed??

"As of February 14, 2015 there have been 470 hull-loss accidents of An-2, claiming a total of 486 human lives. One of the most recent accidents occurred around 6:45 in the afternoon on 17 May, 2015 in the Baltic Sea, where an Antonov An-2 operated by Klaipėdos avialinijos was operating a non-scheduled flight from Gothenburg to the Klaipėda and crashed, killing all 2 crew members on board."

Yeah, I noticed that. But when I checked the source for that, it didn't say anything about crash or finding 2 crew members dead.

That source in lithuanian

originally posted by: residentofearth
a reply to: smurfy


I hope russians has nothing to do with that. They are flying over Baltic Sea without transponder turn on.

Plane? - Engine problem?
Looking forward for more informations.

And Russia has lately invaded the air space of sovereign countries around Baltic. They have also had submarines in Sweden's archipelago. It's ridiculous how they they don't care about borders and fly around without transponder. It's true that there is constant threat of getting hit by Russian plane. It wouldn't be surprise in this case either. And the shot-down theory isn't that far-fetched either, maybe it was "accident".

I wonder who were on-board and if it is somehow linked to art exhibition in ex KGB building, which hit the news all around the World with the crucified Putin statue...
Propably just an accident .. but there is always a question mark ...

a reply to: Thebel

There is currently a russian LOSOS- type submarine, or some other tactical sub, in the baltic, has been for long time..

Maybe it could shoot down a plane?

originally posted by: dollukka
I wonder who were on-board and if it is somehow linked to art exhibition in ex KGB building, which hit the news all around the World with the crucified Putin statue...
Propably just an accident .. but there is always a question mark ...

I find that the plane was in Sweden for repair (ironic, isn't it) and it was going back to Lithuania for agricultural purposes. That plane is perfect for agriculture, as it can fly at very slow speeds (stall speed ~50 km/h) and very low. The pilots were 60 years old, with flight experience of 40 years. There were no passengers on board.

And I read that this is actually the first time in history when civilian plane goes missing over Baltic Sea.

originally posted by: Thebel
It's ridiculous how they they don't care about borders and fly around without transponder. It's true that there is constant threat of getting hit by Russian plane. It wouldn't be surprise in this case either. And the shot-down theory isn't that far-fetched either, maybe it was "accident".

Which makes it ironic that they complained an RC-135 was flying near Russian territory a couple months ago without a transponder

They're having problems with the search due to bad weather and high seas in the area. They've asked Latvia for assistance in searching.

originally posted by: Thebel

originally posted by: smurfy
Funny thing, is that the Wiki AN-2 page has been updated to the 17th and that the two pilots were killed??

"As of February 14, 2015 there have been 470 hull-loss accidents of An-2, claiming a total of 486 human lives. One of the most recent accidents occurred around 6:45 in the afternoon on 17 May, 2015 in the Baltic Sea, where an Antonov An-2 operated by Klaipėdos avialinijos was operating a non-scheduled flight from Gothenburg to the Klaipėda and crashed, killing all 2 crew members on board."

Yeah, I noticed that. But when I checked the source for that, it didn't say anything about crash or finding 2 crew members dead.

That source in lithuanian

That's right, it just says they can't find the plane, anyway it's not usual to declare anything until something is found, or until some passage of time. The other thing is that the insertion seems to have been made on the 16th just to confuse things. ( 15min.lt. 16 May 2015 Gelbėtojams.....) Unless Wiki works on the American time zone. Whatever 15min.lt. were quick on the ball!

a reply to: smurfy

Most people that follow aviation accidents are going to assume that they were killed. Almost any time a plane suddenly goes missing like that, it doesn't end well for the people on board.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: smurfy

Most people that follow aviation accidents are going to assume that they were killed. Almost any time a plane suddenly goes missing like that, it doesn't end well for the people on board.

I know, but that insertion was out of an online source, possibly newspaper, although the actual link doesn't mention crash, or deaths as Thebel pointed, and that's correct, but the Wiki insertion does.

a reply to: smurfy

And that surprises you? Wiki frequently jumps the gun.

They have found the missing plane from the sea floor, but the pilots were not in it. The plane was in depth of 124 meters and it was detected by underwater camera.

Because there were no bodies, the search is still underway.

Small plane lost over Baltic Sea found on seafloor - DailyMail