Two men aged 60 and 61 are the dead in yesterday’s tragic accident in Maleme, Chania after a private plane crashed into the sea.

The pilot is Theodoros Pantos, president of the West Athens Aeroclub.

The thread of their lives was cut yesterday afternoon when the light single-engine aircraft they were traveling in ended up in the sea only about 300 meters from the shore and at a depth of 2.5 meters while heading towards Maleme.

Both were strapped to their seats in the aircraft which was upside down on the seabed as the impact was severe. According to a first assessment by the president of the Chania Aero Club, the pilot may have been disoriented and thought he was flying horizontally while heading towards the sea.

The two men were freed by a lifeguard, picked up by a LS-ELAKT patrol boat, and transported to the port of Kolymvari, where they were picked up by EKAV ambulances and transferred to the Chania General Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

According to information, the aircraft was found at a depth of only a few meters and lifeguards who approached the scene, about 300 meters from the shore, found the two occupants tied inside the cabin and pulled them out unconscious.

The small plane of the West Athens Aeroclub had taken off from Kopaida bound for Chania and it is unknown why it tried to land at Maleme airport instead of Chania airport.

According to information when they reached the area it was dark and in order to land, the pilot made a turn over Kolymbari, approaching the runway from the sea side, but suddenly came down close to the coast.

Lifeguards who were informed by the mayor of Platanias, Yiannis Malandrakis, rushed to the scene, a Coast Guard boat, a Navy helicopter, two passing cruise ships and a fishing boat.