What the lifeguard who spotted them says – They had taken off from Kopaida bound for Maleme airport
The aircraft was found at a depth of just a few meters and lifeguards who arrived at the scene found the two occupants tied inside the cabin and pulled them out unconscious.
Watch videos from the surveys:
The small plane of the West Attica Aeroclub, as flashnews.gr reports, had taken off from Kopaida with the destination of Maleme airport.
By the time they reached the area it was dark and in order to land, the pilot made a turn over Kolymbari, approaching the runway from the sea side, but suddenly came down close to the coast.
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Lifeguards who were informed by the mayor of Platanias, Yiannis Malandrakis, rushed to the scene, a Coast Guard boat, a Navy helicopter, two passing cruise ships and a fishing boat.
Unfortunately, the rescuers who approached the small plane were not able to offer help, except to extricate the two bodies which were transported to the port of Kolymbari and from there to the Chania Hospital.
What the lifeguard who found the pilot and passenger of the plane says
Lifeguard Pavlos Litinakis describes the dramatic hours and how the two victims of the accident were located.
Watch video of the lifeguard’s statements:
“We found a float. We went and saw the aircraft. We had no diving equipment with us, I did the extrication with the breaths. They were bound, they had made no attempt to get out. They had bruises. They probably lost consciousness or even lost their lives in the impact,” said the lifeguard.
Who was the captain of the plane that crashed in Chania
The captain of the two-seater Savannah-type aircraft that died in the crash on Thursday off Maleme in Chania was the president of an aero club.
“His name was Theodoros Pantos, he was the president of the West Greece Aeroclub. He has no connection with the games, nor would he take part. Someone was waiting for him in Maleme from another aeroclub and he informed us that he was late,” said Panagiotis Tzarakis, president of the Chania aeroclub.
As he explains to zarpanews.gr, “while heading to Souda airport, he went to Maleme. The conditions for a night landing do not exist here, nor did his plane have such capabilities, and I don’t think he himself was trained for a night landing.”
How the accident happened
When asked how the accident happened, Mr. Tzarakis believes that the operator was disoriented. “He made a turn to land and possibly became disoriented. He probably thought he was flying level but he was heading out to sea. Because I saw the crash, it was so intense that there’s no way they could have done anything.”
Watch a video with the statements of Panagiotis Tzarakis:
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