VILNIUS: A DHL cargo plane crashed as it came in to land at Lithuania’s Vilnius airport early on Monday (Nov 25) morning, killing one person in the aircraft and flinging debris that damaged a house which was later evacuated.
The three other people onboard were injured, and at least one of them was in critical condition, but no one on the ground was hurt, officials said. Flames and smoke engulfed the wrecked plane as fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze.
The Boeing 737-400 jet, which went down at 3.30am GMT, was operated by airline Swiftair on behalf of DHL, a German logistics group, and had left Leipzig, Germany at 2.08am GMT, according to Flightradar24.
Lithuanian officials said there was no indication of sabotage so far, though Germany is investigating several fires caused by incendiary devices hidden inside parcels at a warehouse in Leipzig for delivery by DHL earlier this year. German authorities were investigating Monday’s crash as well.
Lithuanian counter-intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters: “We cannot reject the possibility of terrorism … But at the moment we can’t make attributions or point fingers, because we don’t have such information.”
In a statement, DHL said the plane, which was arriving from Leipzig, Germany, “made a forced landing” about 1km from VNO airport and that the cause of the crash was still unknown. A DHL spokesperson declined to elaborate.
Lithuanian officials meanwhile said there had been no signs of anything extraordinary from the pilots during radio contact with the aircraft.
“In the recording of the conversation between the pilots and the tower, the pilots until the very last second did not tell the tower of any extraordinary event,” said Marius Baranauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Aviation Authority.
“We need to examine the black boxes to know what was happening in the aircraft.”
Vilnius resident Kotryna Ciupailaite said the aircraft flew low over her car as she was driving to work.
“The right wing of the plane turned down before it crashed, as if it was trying to turn. There was something shiny coming out of the right side of the plane, like sparks or a flame, before it hit the ground,” said Ciupailaite.
She shared a video with Reuters shot through her vehicle’s windshield, which she said was filmed shortly after the crash, showing a big fire beyond a range of trees.
“Oh my God,” she was heard crying out in the video.
Swiftair said the plane went down in a residential area near Vilnius airport, and that it had set up a call centre to assist the relatives of those affected.
