DHL's Swiftair-Operated Boeing 737 Cargo Plane from Leipzig Crashes into Vilnius Home; One Dead, Three Injured

Nov 25, 2024, 07:46 AM

A DHL cargo plane en route from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius, Lithuania, crashed near Vilnius Airport early on Monday morning at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time. The Boeing 737-400 aircraft, operated by Spain's Swiftair and registered as EC-MFE, attempted to land but crashed short of the runway into a two-story residential building on Žirnių Street, setting the house on fire. The four people onboard—two pilots and two DHL staff members—were involved in the crash. One pilot was killed, while the other was rescued by emergency services and taken to the hospital along with the other two crew members. No residents of the building were injured, as they were safely evacuated. Emergency crews, including fire trucks and a command team from Vilnius Airport, responded to the scene. The crash caused a significant fire, but airport operations were not disrupted. The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.