In a bizarre incident, a plane “without anyone inside” flew across Europe, eventually to crash at the Baltic Sea.
Reportedly, the plane had taken off from Jerez in southern Spain and was due to land in Germany.
But the plane continued to fly across Europe.
The jet “was flying between Spain and Cologne but when it changed course, air traffic controllers were not able to make contact”, the Latvian civil aviation agency said in a statement.
It turned twice, at Paris and Cologne, before heading straight out over the Baltic, passing near the Swedish island of Gotland, Reuters reported.
Fighter jets from Germany, Denmark and Sweden were scrambled to try to make contact with the crew in the air as the plane continued to fly across northern Europe, “but they saw no one”, Swedish search and rescue operation leader Lars Antonsson told AFP.
The plane flew relatively steadily until it neared the Latvian coast, when it rapidly lost altitude. It crashed “when it ran out of fuel”, Antonsson said.
“Rescue teams with boats and helicopters from Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden are working at the crash site,” the Latvian aviation agency said.
“No human remains have been found,” Antonsson added.
German newspaper Bild said the plane had reported cabin pressure problems after take-off and contact was lost after it had cleared the Iberian peninsula.