A German-registered Cessna 172 was discovered northeast of Lerwick on Friday afternoon. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has now confirmed it was an aircraft that vanished crossing the North Sea on 30 September 2023.

The wreckage of a small aircraft recovered from the North Sea with human remains inside was a plane that disappeared more than a year ago, investigators have confirmed.

A German-registered Cessna 172 was discovered northeast of Lerwick on Friday afternoon.

was brought to shore in Shetland by a fishing boat on Sunday, and Police Scotland said human remains were found inside.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has now confirmed it was an aircraft that vanished crossing the North Sea on 30 September 2023.

A report published earlier this year by German investigators Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) said the 62-year-old male pilot took off in the morning from the Uetersen-Heist airfield in Germany with the intention to visit relatives in Bayreuth and return the chartered plane the following day.

The BFU said instead of heading south, the aircraft travelled in a north-westerly direction.

Contact was lost over six hours later about 70 nautical miles southeast of the Shetland Islands.

The owner of the single engine four-seater aircraft reported it missing the following day when it failed to return at the agreed time.

The BFU report said the pilot had explicitly requested a plane with autopilot and had reportedly told his wife that morning she could not accompany him as planned.
The BFU said it was not aware of the detailed circumstances and motives surrounding that decision.

The AAIB said it was supporting Police Scotland and the German authorities.

An AAIB spokesperson said: “We were informed that the remains of a German-registered Cessna 172, which was lost in the North Sea in September 2023, had been recovered by a fishing vessel on 6 December and brought to shore in Shetland on Sunday.

“The loss of the aircraft was initially investigated by the BFU of Germany.

“The AAIB is supporting Police Scotland and working with the BFU to assist their safety investigation.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson added that “enquiries are ongoing”.