After learning about the enigmatic flight of the aircraft from Lithuania, the police decided to intervene

The two-engine Piper PA-23-250-Aztec (LY-LOO), which took off from Lithuania on Wednesday, flew over several Eastern European countries without permission and attracted the attention of the Air Force.

The plane landed in Bulgaria and the pilot withdrew and the local authorities failed to identify him.

The plane flew over Hungary, flew briefly to Serbia, then to Romania, and on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 9 min. local (and Lithuanian) time – to Bulgarian airspace.

The two-person Piper, registered in Lithuania, did not have an approved flight plan and its transponders were switched off. The pilot did not respond to radio inquiries and visual signals, the Romanian Ministry of Defense said.

Two Hungarian Gripen fighters, two US F-16 fighters and two Romanian F-16 fighters took over the offender in succession and accompanied him until he flew into Bulgarian airspace.

The Bulgarian air force did not immediately lift the fighters because “the plane was never considered a threat,” Defense Minister Dragomir Zakov told reporters.

The ministry under his leadership reported that the flight conditions were difficult: a storm with thunderstorms and heavy rains. The plane had stopped refueling on the Danube town of Vidin in northwestern Bulgaria.

Officials later found the aircraft at an old aerodrome near the eastern city of Tergovisht.

Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov told reporters the engine of the plane was still warm, but the crew members were missing and their whereabouts are still unknown.

According to B.Rashkov, the plane started its journey in Lithuania. He also flew over the territory of Poland and Slovakia, so that the aircraft had flown into the airspace of seven Eastern European countries without permission.

Alvydas Šumskas, director of the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) of the Transport Competence Agency, announced that the owner of Piper had been deregistered on June 6, as it had been sold.

“The procedure could not be performed because some of the documents that the owner had to submit were missing,” A. Šumskas explained.

It is probable that the new owner of the aircraft flew it out without having to arrange all the procedures.

The former owner of the plane is known to CAD employees, and who flew it from Lithuania is unknown.

A. Šumskas could not reveal more circumstances, because the officers of the Criminal Police Bureau started the investigation.

The Piper PA-23-250-Aztec was built in the USA 60 years ago. It was previously registered in France, the United States and Switzerland. The plane was registered in the Lithuanian Aircraft Register in 2006.