A Boeing 737-400F converted freighter operated by Swiftair for DHL suffered a fatal accident shortly before its planned landing at Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania, on the morning of Nov. 25.
Coming in from Leipzig, Germany, the aircraft was heading south and intended to land on runway 19. It hit the ground before then, skidding into a residential building, according to a local Reuters report. One person on board died, while the other three were injured. Nobody on the ground was hurt.
The crash happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time. Due to the rescue work, the scheduled departures of several aircraft were delayed and one incoming aircraft was diverted to Riga, Latvia, the airport said. At around 7.20 a.m., aircraft were able to land and depart from Vilnius Airport again.
A weather report minutes before the accident indicates the wind was coming from the south, at 16 kt. Visibility was superior to 10 km (5 nm) and the temperature was 1C (34F).
Madrid-based Swiftair took delivery of the aircraft in 2015, following its conversion into a cargo airliner, according to Aviation Week Network’s Fleet Discovery database. Boeing delivered it to its first owner, Qantas subsidiary Australian Airlines, in 1993. The CFM 56-3-powered narrowbody was registered EC-MFE.
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