Search for missing Lithuanian aircraft canceled after sunset

The search for the civil aircraft that went missing over the Baltic Sea will be canceled after sunset, Lithuanian authorities said on Sunday evening.

"The search operation will be canceled after sunset," Antanas Brencius, spokesman for Lithuanian Navy, was quoted as saying by BNS news agency.

"Nothing has been found, the operation would be canceled today and unlikely to be renewed," he added.

According to him, L-410 aircraft of the Lithuanian air force have canceled its work already, while Latvian Mi-17 helicopter continues to search the territory of the likely accident.

The aircraft of the Latvian Air Force has been working over the Latvian zone of responsibility of the Baltic Sea. If the two pilots of the missing plane would have managed to survive, they would have found themselves in Latvian territory, Brencius suggested.

In his words, two vessels of the Lithuanian navy, the Sakiai search and rescue ship and the Jotvingis command and supply ship had been ordered to return to Klaipeda port after their work is finished.

No trace of the missing aircraft has been detected during intense search operation throughout the day, Brencius stressed.

"There is almost no hope that pilots survived," he said.

The single-engine plane An-2 built in 1981 went missing on Saturday over the Baltic Sea. The aircraft was carrying two pilots and no passengers on board.

The plane which was flying from Gothenburg, Sweden, to Lithuania, lost contact with the ground Saturday evening, 97 nautical miles from Lithuanian shores.

Alvydas Sumskas, deputy director of the civil aviation administration, emphasized it's the first case in Lithuanian civil aviation history a plane went missing in the sea.

According to Sumskas, the causes of the incident are still unclear. He underlined the crew of the missing plane were very experienced.

"There are no other crews in Lithuania that would be as experienced flying with that type of plane," said Sumskas, adding the crew has an experience of more than 40 years.

"The simplest version would be a mechanical failure, but the fact that a crew was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet, according to the latest reports, and had enough time to report about their problems, raises many questions," said Sumskas.

He said Lithuania's ministry of transport and communications would continue the investigation.

In his words, An-2 plane is a very reliable plane having a reliable flying record since 1949.

The plane belongs to Klaipedos Avialinijos, a Klaipeda-based company providing parachute jumping, fertilization from the air as well as filming and photography services.

Viktoras Sisniauskas, director of Klaipedos Avialinijos, told BNS that the Polish-built plane was purchased in Sweden. The missing crew had been transporting the plane for its new services in Klaipeda.

"The plane was in a good condition," Sisniauskas said.