DHL plane hits house near Vilnius airport: What we know about morning tragedy
A cargo aircraft crashed during early-morning landing attempt in Vilnius leaving one crew member dead and damaging residential building. Previous monthʼs security warnings about cargo flights add extra attention to incident
Early morning on Nov 25th a DHL-operated Boeing 737 crashed in Vilnius residential area causing fire and destruction (the incident happened around 4:30 in morning european-time). The aircraft hit a two-story house about one-km from airports landing strip
Laurynas Kasciunas Lithuanias defence minister pointed out that initial findings dont show any signs of terrorism or sabotage; however the crash needs thorough check-up — it might take up-to a week to get first results. The black-boxes data will help determine if technical or pilot-related issues caused the accident
Local resident Stanislovas Jakimavicius described the terrifying moment:
Through the window‚ we saw the wave of explosions and a cloud of fire‚ like fireworks
The timing raises questions since last month security services found small-scale explosive device in Leipzig DHL warehouse. Similar incident happened in mid-summer at Birmingham facility: both cases are still under investigation. Konstantin von Notz who leads German Parliamentary Intelligence Commission stressed importance of detailed probe into possible connections
The crash resulted in Spanish pilots death and three other crew-members injuries (all house residents managed to escape). The aircraft departed from Leipzig Germany carrying regular cargo shipment: burning debris scattered around impact zone setting nearby structures ablaze. Darius Jauniskis Lithuanian security chief noted that while Russia shows growing aggression its too early to make any conclusions
