A SwiftAir Boeing 737-400 freighter registered as EC-MFE and operating a cargo flight for DHL from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius, Lithuania, has crashed into a residential building on approach to Vilnius shortly before 5:30am local time.
Preliminary reports state that one of the four people was killed, while the other three were injured. The twelve occupants of the house hit by the aircraft have been rescued.
Videos show a large fire at the scene of the crash, which is about one kilometer short of runway 19 at Vilnius Airport. Another CCTV video shows the aircraft approaching the runway normally before suddenly and rapidly losing height and impacting the ground. Further videos show the aircraft entering a sharp turn just before making contact with the ground.
Police have said that they are investigating all possible causes of the accident and are hoping to interview the surviving crew members soon. Both flight data recorders were recovered from the crash site.
Jan-Hendrik is an aviation enthusiast from Germany, loves to travel the world and fly on as many aircraft as possible. His first flight was with a Condor 757 to Spain and has been interested in aviation ever since. His fields of expertise are aircraft accidents and passenger experience (PaxEx).
