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Estonian diving company claims their long-term searches have finally borne fruit, and the wreck of the Finnish passenger plane Kaleva, shot down by a Soviet aircraft on the eve of World War II, has been found at the bottom of the sea in the Gulf of Finland.
An Estonian diving company has located the wreckage site of the passenger plane Kaleva, which was downed on June 14, 1940, along with the remains of the aircraft, north of Keri Island. According to eyewitness accounts, the plane plunged into the sea at full speed after being hit by Russian bombers, resulting in extensive damage to the wreck.
Despite the severe impact, the debris field on the seabed, lying at a depth of 71 to 76 meters, contains identifiable parts of the aircraft, including a wing, one of the engines, and a piece of landing gear with a wheel.
"The debris field spans an area of up to 100 by 100 meters on the seabed. It is possible that the items currently found are only part of the plane that originally fell into the sea, as some items and fuselage pieces may have been retrieved back in 1940 or during the years 1956-1967," said Kaido Peremees, representative of the diving company.
On June 14, 1940, two Soviet bombers shot down the Kaleva, a Junkers Ju-52 operated by the Finnish company Aero O/Y, while it was en route from Tallinn to Helsinki. The plane plunged into the sea near Keri Island, northeast of Tallinn and not far from Prangli Island. All nine diplomats and civilians on board were killed. One theory suggests that the plane carried something valuable, such as diplomatic mail, which the Soviet Union wanted. According to this theory, the Soviets retrieved the wreck that same autumn, as reported by the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.
For years, it was believed that the Soviets had destroyed the wreck in the 1950s, a view supported by Estonian Maritime Museum, whose representatives spent years searching for the wreck without success.