Tragic news overnight reported that a Boeing 737-400 freighter aircraft operated by Swiftair on behalf of DHL has crashed on approach to Vilnius Aiport in Lithuania.
Remote CCTV footage showed the aircraft rapidly descending on final approach before a large fire erupted.
Crews attending the scene found the aircraft had landed in a courtyard of a residential neighbourhood, having impacted a two-storey building.
Initial reports state that one of the four crewmembers on board, and one person on the ground, have been killed. Others have been taken to hospital with injuries.
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What Happened?
Flight QY5960, operated by EC-MFE, had departed Leipzig, Germany, on a scheduled cargo flight to Vilnius earlier.
Whilst on final approach to runway 19 at Vilnius, communications with the crew had been lost around 4nm from touchdown. Despite blind calls issuing landing clearance, the crew failed to respond and shortly after the aircraft impacted the ground.
Weather at the time was overcast with moderate winds, but good visibility. It was dark at the time of the crash.
Investigations are now underway as to the cause, which can not accurately be specified yet.
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Aircraft History
Photo (c) Aero Icarus
EC-MFE was a 31-year-old Boeing 737-476(F) which had begun life in 1993 with Qantas as VH-TJT.
It later flew with Al Sayegh Airlies of Cambodia.
The aircraft joined Swiftair in 2015 following conversion into a freighter. It wore a hybrid livery, with Swiftair titles on the forward fuselage and yellow DHL livery on the rear, outlining the airline’s agreement with the worldwide freight and logistics company.
Recent flights included stops across the European DHL network, including Barcelona, Brussels, Cologne/Bonn, Bologna, Athens, Milan Malpensa and Dublin (source: Flightradar24).
Interestingly, the aircraft had been stored in Vilnius in 2020 during a furlough period.
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Title image: Olivier CABARET
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