Smooth Criminal
The aircraft involved in the incident - 1962 PA-23-250 Aztec with registration LY-LOO/ Image: Scanpix
On June 09, 2022, one of the shadiest events happened in Lithuanian aviation. A small, 6-seat Piper PA-23-250 Aztec took off from a small aerodrome near the city of Panevežys and was flown more than 2000 kilometers. The plane has landed in a remote abandoned aerodrome near the city of Targovishte, Bulgaria. The interesting part of the event is that the whole route was flown without communication with ATC. More to that - transponder was switched off as well. The aircraft has flown over the territories of Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania and finally landed in Bulgaria. It was monitored on military radars and as well fighter jets were deployed to intercept the target. But according to the military, it was determined that the aircraft did not pose a threat so - no actions were taken. During the flight, the plane managed to make a few successful technical stops for fuel. After the landing, when Bulgarian police arrived, the engine was still warm, but there was no sign of a crew nowhere near.
The aircraft involved in the incident - 1962 PA-23-250 Aztec with registration LY-LOO/ Image: Scanpix
Fun fact that this particular aircraft was on sale since January 1, 2022. According to Lithuania's transport competency agency report - the certificate of airworthiness has expired in 2014. To add more this plane was manufactured in 1962 and has logged 7700 flight hours. Engine calendar resource has expired in 2014, propeller resource has expired in 2017. The last heavy maintenance was completed in 2011. And according to plane sellers' information complete engine overhaul was required in order to return the plane to an operational state. The plane was stored since 2015 and all this information indicates that the state of that particular Piper was nowhere near "airworthy". According to the media reports seller sold this plane for ±29k EUR, and all comments from his side were that he don't know anything about the buyer, and don't know his name or surname. Basically, he just doesn't know these friends. Smells fishy, doesn't it? Bulgarian and Lithuanian police have started an investigation and hopefully, the case will be solved soon!
Best regards,
Your AviapixBaltics!