Three people are dead after a scenic flight which was a birthday present for one of the passengers crashed in northeast Slovenia.
At around 12pm on Sunday, police and emergency services rushed to the scene where a small sports plane had plummeted down near a local football field.
The Cessna Skyhawk plane, belonging to the Maribor Aeroclub, was on a panoramic flight in the area of Prekmurje when it fell, Murska Sobota police said.
It was meant to carry four passengers, but one person had stayed behind.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident but it is thought the weather was a likely culprit.
It was supposed to fly a route from Maribor to Lendava, Prekmurje, where there was thick fog.
The weather conditions can be clearly seen in pictures from the scene of the accident. It was said to be sunny and clear when the plane took off.
Three people died - including a man in his 30s from the Beltinci area and a woman from Styria.
Three people are dead after a scenic flight which was a birthday present for one of the passengers crashed in northeast Slovenia. Pictured is the scene
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing plane
It is known to be a flight training favourite, suited for student pilots to practice in. File pic
It was supposed to be a birthday present for one of them, according to local news site Sobotainfo.com.
Maribor Aviation Centre representative Vili Kolar confirmed to Radio Maribor that it was their plane.
We saw in the flight plan that the plane took off from us at 11am.
We were informed about the news by others, but air traffic control could not tell us because the plane was outside the control area of Maribor.
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine plane first flown in 1955.
Due to its longevity and popularity, the Cessna 172 is said to be the most successful aircraft in history and remains in production today.
In 1958-1959, Robert Timm and John Cook set the world record for refueled flight endurance in a used Cessna 172.
It is known to be a flight training favourite, suited for student pilots to practice in.