VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — A DHL cargo plane crashed on approach to an airport in Lithuania's capital and skidded into a nearby house Monday morning, leaving at least one crew member dead, officials said. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
The head of the country's firefighting service said that the plane skidded a few hundred meters (yards), and photos showed smoke rising from a damaged structure in an area of barren trees.
A surveillance video from a nearby company showed the plane descending normally as it approached the airport, and then exploding into a huge ball of fire from behind a building. The exact moment of impact could not be seen.
Rescue workers sealed off the area, and fragments of the plane in the company’s trademark yellow color were scattered across the site of the crash.
“Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people," said Renatas Požėla, chief of the Fire and Rescue Department.
One eyewitness, who gave her name only as Svaja, ran to a window when a light as bright as a red sun filled her room, and then heard an explosion followed by flashes and black smoke.
“I saw a fireball,” she said. “My first thought is that a world (war) has begun and it’s time to grab the documents and run somewhere to a shelter, to a basement.”
Lithuanian’s public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said two people had been taken to the hospital after the crash, and one was pronounced dead.
The person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot, officials said. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one of whom was more seriously injured, according to the General Commissioner of the Lithuanian Police Arūnas Paulauskas.
Paulauskas told a news conference that the cause of the crash was under investigation. He said officers went to the hospital to interview the crew members.
He also investigators were considering various causes, such as a technical failure and human error, and have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act.
“This is one of the versions that must be studied and checked,” Paulauskas said, according to LRT.
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany, which is a major freight hub.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24, analyzed by The Associated Press, showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) short of the runway.
The crash happened just before 5:30 a.m. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 30 kph (18 mph).
DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. A representative from the company said it not have any immediate comment.
The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that’s not unusual for cargo flights.
___
This story corrects the title of Renatas Požėla.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Mindaugas Kulbis And Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
