Zakynthos, Ioannina Greece – Bodies of Israeli Couple Found after Plane Crash

Zakynthos, Ioannina Greece – The bodies of an Israeli couple was found after their light aircraft crashed in Greece, as was reported here on VIN News. The Foreign Ministry is arranging for the return of the bodies to Israel.

The Merchant Marine Ministry said that along with two other people who flew in a different plane, the couple took off in a private plane from the island of Kos and was scheduled to land in Corfu, some 300 miles northwest of Athens.

Authorities said that after the single-engine aircraft passed the island of Kos, the Israelis reported problems and landed temporarily.

They reportedly took off again that evening, but sent out a distress signal about an hour later. Ultimately, just one of the planes made it back to Athens.

Greek authorities informed the Israeli Foreign Ministry of the missing aircraft after it had disappeared from radar screens. In an effort to locate the couple, authorities attempted to home in on their cellular telephone signals, but to no avail.

A helicopter dispatched to the region located the wreckage in an open field. Forensic crews were then summoned to the scene to recover the bodies of the two Israelis, whose remains were found alongside the crash site.

Greek authorities sent a fighter jet and helicopter to the site where the plane disappeared, approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Zakynthos.

Eli Sneh, an Israeli diplomat posted in Athens, was en route to the crash site to aid in transporting the bodies to Israel. The couple’s son departed Israel and was also on the way to the site, accompanied by an aviation expert.

Initial conclusions of the investigation point to a combination of human error and difficult weather conditions that caused the accident. The tail of the plane was the only part that was found nearly whole on a hill in Zakynthos.

The aircraft is a U.S.-made CIRRUS 22, which is considered one of the more reliable and heavily equipped models available on the market today. One of its key safety features is a ballistic parachute system that is located behind the cockpit.

The mechanism is comprised of a rocket that, when activated by the pilot, fires and opens a parachute outside of the plane, enabling it to safely drop to the surface. The plane also features a state-of-the-art navigation system.