Body of missing pilot possibly found in sunken Lithuanian aircraft

The body of one of the two missing pilots has possibly been found after examining video footage of the sunken An-2 airplane taken using underwater video equipment, Lithuania's ministry of defense said on Thursday.

"The worst scenario has been confirmed," Brigita Maciulyte, a daughter of one of the pilots, was quoted as saying by the website Delfi.lt.

A thorough examination of the airplane wreck lying on the Baltic seafloor was carried out Wednesday night, the ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the new footage from the Kursis minesweeper surveying video equipment was brought to the Lithuanian Navy headquarters at Klaipeda sea port and viewed with the families of the missing pilots.

Only one body could be seen in the footage, Maciulyte said.

The An-2 aircraft disappeared on the afternoon of May 16 when en route from Sweden to Lithuania with only the two pilots on board. The plane was found 63 nautical miles from shore.

Juozas Olekas, minister of national defense, sent his condolences to the families of the two missing pilots.

Olekas explained the situation at a plenary sitting of the Seimas, Lithuanian parliament, on Thursday.

"We are negotiating with specialists from Sweden and the Netherlands and we hope to receive their help soon," he told reporters after the meeting in the parliament.

"The investigation is still going on; possible engine failure could not be dismissed," he said when asked about likely crash cause.

The Lithuanian minister contacted Sweden's ministry of defense on Wednesday requesting support for the operation of lifting the aircraft from the Baltic seabed. Endit