1994 Lake Constance Cessna 425 crash

On 24 January 1994 a Cessna 425 crashed into Lake Constance with 5 people on board. 3 of them are confirmed killed, two are missing. The crash caused significant media attention due to a suspicion the aircraft might be transporting nuclear material which was later found untrue.[1][2][3]

1994 Lake Constance Cessna 425 crash
A Cessna 425 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date24 January 1994 (1994-01-24)
SiteLake Constance, north of Rorschach, Switzerland
47°29′33.79″N 9°29′35.58″E
Aircraft
Aircraft typeCessna 425
Flight originPrague Ruzyne
DestinationSt. Gallen Altenrhein
Passengers4
Crew1
Fatalities3
Missing2
Survivors0

The flight

The flight left Prague Ruzyne earlier that day with final destination Paris and an intermediate stop in St. Gallen Altenrhein. On board were pilot Rudi Wierschem, businessmen Josef Rimmele and Klaus Eichler (a former East German official[4]), as well as two barmaids. Mr Rimmele had an outstanding arrest warrant by German authorities for tax evasion and fraud.[5]

Accident

In the evening of 24 January, an aircraft was reported missing just north of the Swiss city of Rorschach, above Lake Constance a few miles west of the airport of St. Gallen Altenrhein. Initial attempts to locate the aircraft in the lake had been delayed due to deteriorating weather. The aircraft was lifted from the lake on 8 February 1994. Analysis at the time was inconclusive as the flaps were in neutral position which was unexpected for a planned landing at the nearby airport or an intentional watering. One of the aircraft doors was found open with only 3 of the 5 expected passengers on board. The pilot, one of the barmaids and a dog have not been recovered.[6][7][8][9][10]

The case was discussed in the 1995 edition of the commentary to the Constitution of Bavaria. The authors concluded that lack of clarity of the border line in the lake would have resulted in ambiguity about which country's criminal courts would have had jurisdiction.[11][12]

Nuclear scare

During the time between the crash at the end of January and its recovery in early February, the biography of the business men on board caused for significant media attention and a scare that the aircraft might be transporting nuclear material. After recovery of the aircraft, no nuclear material was found. Had this been found to be true, the water supply in Switzerland, Germany and Austria and some important population centres along the river Rhine might have been at risk, hence the focus of attention.[13][14][15]

Mr Rimmele and Mr Eichler are said to have been under observation by authorities given their connection with Eastern European arms dealers and activities which included the sale and transport of low radioactive material in the past to Chinese buyers.[16]

References
  1. "'Caesium plane' found in Swiss lake". The Independent. 1994-02-03. Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  2. "PLANE IS LIFTED FROM LAKE, BUT MYSTERY REMAINS". DeseretNews.com. 1994-02-14. Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  3. sda/lehs. "20 Jahre nach dem Cessna-Absturz: Ein einmaliger Bodensee-Krimi". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  4. deutschland, Redaktion neues. "Klaus Eichlers Absturz (neues deutschland)". www.neues-deutschland.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  5. "Kriminalität: "Da geht jeder in die Knie"". Der Spiegel. 6. 1994-02-07. Archived from the original on 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  6. "So um Gottes willen nicht". Der Spiegel. 7. 1994-02-14. Archived from the original on 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  7. Tobler, Corina. "Wenn der Bodensee zur Todesfalle wird". St.Galler Tagblatt (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  8. "Ongeluk Bodenmeer steeds mysterieuzer". NRC (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  9. Germany, programm ARD de-ARD Play-Out-Center Potsdam, Potsdam. "Ich war dabei". programm.ARD.de. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  10. "Kleinflugzeug in Bodensee gestürzt". www.oe24.at. 2009-04-11. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  11. RICHTER, PETER (1995-08-11). "Bodensee ist völkerrechtlich Niemandsland". Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  12. Brunet-Jailly, Emmanuel (2015-07-28). Border Disputes: A Global Encyclopedia [3 volumes]: A Global Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610690249.
  13. Aktuell, S. W. R.; Aktuell, S. W. R. "Gerücht um Atomflugzeug im Bodensee". swr.online (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  14. Fuhrer, U. (2013-11-21). Ökologisches Handeln als sozialer Prozess: Ecological action as a social process. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783034850452.
  15. www.20min.ch, www 20minuten ch, 20 Minuten, 20 Min. "Gruselgeschichten vom Seegrund". 20 Minuten (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  16. Online, FOCUS. "Atomzünder an Bord?". FOCUS Online (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
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