An ultralight aircraft plunged into the sea near Maleme airfield on Thursday evening, killing the pilot and his passenger. The impact occurred some 300 metres offshore and was witnessed by people at the airfield. The emergency services were quickly on the scene and the plane’s two occupants were recovered and taken to Chania General Hospital, where they were confirmed dead.

The pilot has been named as Theodoros Pantos, aged 60, who was president of the West Athens Flying Club, and his passenger as Kostas Karambinis, aged 61. The circumstances under which the plane came to crash off Maleme beach are unclear. Such details as are known were given to the media by the President of the Chania Flying Club, Panagiotis Tzarakis, who was present at Maleme airfield at the time of the crash, preparing for a flying competition the following day – though as he emphasised the crashed plane was not due to participate in this.

The aircraft had departed from Kopaida Airport, some 110 km by road north west of Athens, with Chania Airport at Souda as its intended destination. However, at some point it changed course for Maleme, where it was reported to be in communication with someone on the ground. By the time it arrived over Maleme at around 6.00 pm it was already dark, and after making a low pass over the airfield the pilot circled back over Kolymbari, apparently intending to make an approach from the direction of the sea. It was at that point that it crashed into the water.

Mr Tzarakis theorised that the pilot had become disoriented in the dark, so that he thought he was flying level when he was in fact descending towards the sea. The crash was so violent, he said, that there was no hope of survivors. He also emphasised that the ultralight was not equipped for flying at night and there were no runway lights at Maleme, nor did he think the pilot was trained in night flying. It should also be noted that Maleme airfield is military installation and aircraft cannot land there without permission.

After the plane hit the water, a navigation light remained illuminated, so it was quickly located by a Coastguard vessel and a Naval helicopter which had been alerted about the incident. Also present was a private lifeguard, Pavlos Lytinakis, who had rushed to the scene on being alerted by the Chania Port Authority. Equipped only with a mask and a knife, Mr Lytinakis dived down and freed the two occupants of the plane, which was lying upside down in 2.5 to 3 metres of water. He found them strapped into their seats, having apparently made no effort to free themselves, and guessed that they had been knocked unconscious or even killed on impact. The two bodies were transferred to Kolymbari harbour, and then taken by ambulance to Chania General Hospital where their deaths were confirmed.

The aircraft was an ultralight BRM Citius Sport of Portuguese manufacture, owned by West Athens Aeroclub with registration SX-UPP. It has a wingspan of 9.2 metres and a 100 hp engine giving it a cruising speed of 180-190 km/h. By Friday morning the wreck had washed up on Maleme beach, where it was loaded onto a truck by a crane and taken to a secure location at Maleme airfield where it will be examined by an expert. Also on Friday the Director of the National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Rail Accidents and Transport Safety (EOO-DASAAM), Athanasios Binis, arrived in Chania to conduct an investigation into the causes of the accident.
(Haniotika Nea, Flashnews.gr, ERT News)