A shocking video that includes footage from both the rescue operation of the two occupants of the Indonesian-registered single-engine aircraft that crashed into the sea on Thursday morning (15/12) at the height of Mount Kako, in Heraklion, Crete, and from the aircraft inside into the water was given by the Hellenic Coast Guard.
The video contains footage of the effort to get the two occupants, the 68-year-old Indonesian who ended up and the 26-year-old South African who survived, onto the Coast Guard vessel, as well as of the single-engine aircraft almost submerged under water.
The footage shows the aircraft after it crashed. The fuselage sinks into the waters of the sea, while some of the efforts to rescue the passengers can be seen.
The tragedy occurred at 9.15 in the morning. The plane took off from “Nikos Kazantzakis” airport bound for Egypt, however a distress signal was immediately sent to the airport.
A short time later, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and ends up falling into the sea, in the area of Kako Oros in Heraklion.
The control tower activated the protocol and informs the relevant authorities. The Coast Guard is sending three boats while two speedboats from the Inflatables Group are also participating in the investigations.
At the same time, divers from the EMAK and the coast guard dived into the sea to locate the two passengers while an Air Force aircraft carried out searches from the air.
One of the two, a 62-year-old Indonesian, was already dead when he was taken to the hospital, despite the efforts of the rescue crews involved in the rescue operation, which was set up at around ten in the morning.
As for the second person, a 32-year-old South African, he is in good condition in hospital, according to commander Konstantinos Terzakis. As the airport master of Heraklion Airport “N. Kazantzakis” stated in his statements, the aircraft emitted a distress signal as soon as it took off.
