Mail plane with Spanish pilot crashes in Sweden

AN AIRCRAFT piloted by a 42-year-old Spaniard and a 34-year-old Frenchman which was carrying mail between the Norwegian cities of Oslo and Tromso is reported to have crashed in an isolated area of northern Sweden according to the Swedish police and the airline very late on the evening of January 7.

The pilot of the aircraft, a Canadair CRJ 200 SE-DUX operated by West Atlantic a joint venture between a Swedish and British company issued a single distress signal before the aircraft disappeared from all radar contact, although a Norwegian F16 Falcon aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force reported sighting of the aircraft on the ground.

Swedish rescue teams are working to recover the bodies of the two pilots who are presumed dead although both the terrain and cold weather are making this very difficult. The airline is expected to hold a press conference in Sweden.