A Swiftair Boeing 737-400 cargo freighter, operating flight QY-5960 on behalf of DHL, crashed near Vilnius Airport in Lithuania on Monday, November 25th, 2024, resulting in the death of one crew member. Three other crew members were injured and taken to hospitals.
The aircraft, registration EC-MFE, impacted a residential building approximately 0.9 nautical miles from the runway threshold at around 05:28 local time. All 12 residents of the building were safely evacuated and there were no injuries on the ground.
According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft was on final ILS approach to runway 19 and maintained routine communication with air traffic control (ATC) until the handoff to the tower, about 4 nautical miles from the runway threshold.
The crew did not report on the tower frequency and the tower transmitted landing clearance “into the blind”. ADS-B data suggests the aircraft was slightly below the nominal glidepath in the final moments of the flight.
The aircraft had departed from DHL’s hub at Leipzig Airport in Germany earlier that morning, according to Flightradar24.
The 31-year-old aircraft, a Boeing 737-476(SF) variant, was built in 1993 and converted to a freighter in 2015.
Reported weather at the time of the accident included overcast skies, light winds, and a temperature around 0 degrees Celsius.
Lithuanian authorities have launched an investigation into the crash, based on a BBC News report.
“The reason for the crash was most likely either a technical accident or it could be a human error,” Arunas Paulauskas, head of the Lithuanian police, told a news conference.
He added that all possible causes, including terrorism, would be investigated, though the defense minister stated there were no initial signs of sabotage or terrorism.
Marius Baranauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Aviation Authority, noted that the pilots did not report any extraordinary events to the tower until the very last second.
DHL released a statement confirming the accident and stating they have also initiated their own investigation. The investigation is expected to take some time, with officials saying the collection of evidence alone could take a week.
Leave a comment