Light aircraft crashes outside Norrköping, Sweden; rescue services salvage two bodies

On Sunday evening around 20:00 (local time), a Socata MS.893 Rallye Commodore 180 (registered HA-BNS) light aircraft crashed in the sea outside Norrköping, Sweden. A person alerted the emergency services after hearing a big splash in the water. Rescue services rushed to the aircraft and found it at the bottom of the sea at a depth of approximately eight to ten meters. 

The Swedish Maritime Administration dispatched rescue helicopters, two boats from the Swedish Sea Rescue Society and vessels of the Coast Guard rushed to the scene.

Soon after, the rescue team found oil in the water and by using a sonar, the wreckage was found. Divers investigated the area and late in the evening police announced the discovery of a dead person close to the crash site.

Official authorities stated that a total of two bodies were salvaged, a German and a Hungarian person.

According to Christer Ekeroth, rescue leader, the people were going to fly further north in Sweden to buy another aircraft, but the weather was too bad and they didn’t get there.

The reason for the crash remains unclear hence the Accident Commission is involved to investigate the matter.

According to the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority, the plane flew from Poland and was on its way to the airport in Dala-Järna in Västerdalarna. “The plane changed its flight route and was heading towards Skavsta. It is not unlikely that it is because of the weather,” says Karin Ellström, civil servant on standby at the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority.

Air traffic control was in contact with the plane before it crashed into the water. “I can confirm that air traffic control was in contact with the plane during the flight but that they have lost contact. Everything was calm until contact was lost according to the air traffic controller I spoke to,” says Karin Ellström.

Featured image, not the actual aircraft: Planespotter1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons