Early Monday morning, a Boeing 737 cargo aircraft crashed near Vilnius airport. As per fire and rescue department, one person was killed and three injured. A plane used by the company DHL, owned by Spanish airline Swiftair, crashed near a residential building.
A pilot, a Spanish citizen, was killed in a plane crash in Vilnius, Ramūnas Matonis, a spokesman for the Police Department, told Elta. According to him, one Lithuanian, one German and one Spanish citizen was injured.
According to Renatas Pozela, chief of the Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Department, the plane traveled several hundred meters on the ground before impacting a house.
The debris impacted a residential house, causing a fire in the surrounding infrastructure, though the house itself sustained only minor damage. Twelve residents were successfully evacuated from the building, as per Lithuanian officials.
According to LRT RADIO, a Lithuanian crew member got off the plane after the disaster and deliberately shared his thoughts and told about the circumstances of the accident.
According to preliminary data, the DHL cargo 737-476(SF) aircraft (EC-MFE) flew from Leipzig. Airport spokesman Marius Zelenius said the plane from Leipzig around 5:30 a.m. Lithuanian time fell in Liepkalnis, near Peabody and Liepkalnis streets.
The recording of the conversation of the pilots of the crashed plane with the Flight Control Center, recorded just before the crash in Vilnius, has been published.
At the beginning of the conversation, the pilot of the plane can be heard greeting the Air Traffic Control Center. The dispatcher at the flight control center instructs the pilot to descend to 4,000 feet, a bit cooler, and to 2,700 feet.
"Swift18D, 4 miles from landing, contact tower," the dispatcher reports. After addressing the pilot to the Flight Control Tower, he gives permission to land. "Swift18D, wind 170° 15 knots, runway ready for landing," the controller in the control tower will announce.
However, after a few moments, the Air Traffic Control Tower informed the other planes that they had to temporarily stop takeoffs.
A spokeswoman for the Republican Vilnius University Hospital, confirmed that two people who were injured in a plane crash were delivered to their institution. What is the condition of the patients – the hospital does not comment.
The police department, along with the Attorney General's Office, has launched a pre-trial investigation to find out the circumstances of the incident. All possible causes of the accident are being investigated.
According to PAGD initial data, at 5:28 a.m., information was received that the cargo plane had crashed near the house. A pilot who has regained consciousness is freed from the aircraft, a fire is extinguished. "A two-story residential building is on fire in an open flame," a PAGD spokesman told LRT RADIO.
Vilnius county Yulia Samorokovskaya, head of the Communication Department of the VPK, confirmed about this incident and mentioned that traffic was restricted at the scene.
"The section of Liepkalnis Street from the Danube to Peabody streets and the exit from Birbyniai to Liepkalnis Street were closed, the intersections were blocked," the vilnius county police spokeswoman said.
The government's press service later reported that in the territory of the fallen plane, traffic has already been restored.
Mindaugas Pivoriūnas, CEO of DHL Lietuva, said that the plane belonged to the company's contractor. At this time, the cause of the disaster is not yet clear, he stressed. About the cargo is not exactly known.
"We don't have the details because it's not our plane, our contractor's, they're the owners of the plane, the operators and they have the basic information," he said.
As informed by the representatives of Lithuanian airports, the activities of Vilnius Airport are currently not disrupted.
Tadas Vasiliauskas, a representative of Lithuanian airports, says that the incident took place near Vilnius Airport.
"The incident occurred near the airport, we are partially participating, our special forces have gone to the scene, they are participating in rescue work," T. Vasiliauskas told LRT RADIO.
So far, there is no more detailed information about the incident, according to T. Vasiliauskas.
The cause of the crash remains unknown, but Lithuanian police chief Arunas Paulauskas has not ruled out terrorism as a potential motive. He cautioned that the investigation, including evidence collection and crime scene analysis, could extend over the next week.
On Monday morning, the interim premier held a meeting on the crashed plane. It was attended by representatives of the Ministries of the Interior and Transport and Communications, the heads of Vilnius International Airport, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Police Department and the capital's municipality.
