SwiftAir Boeing 737-400F EC-MFE (Olivier Cabaret)
SwiftAir Boeing 737-400F EC-MFE (Olivier Cabaret)
Air Transport

Boeing 737-400 crashes shortly before landing in Vilnius, Lithuania

SwiftAir cargo aircraft was coming from Leipzig and was on approach for landing when it lost altitude and hit terrain short of runway 19. Two people died
Ricardo Meier

A SwiftAir Boeing 737-400F freighter crashed shortly before landing at Vilnius Airport in Lithuania in the early hours of Monday. One of the pilots and one person on the ground were killed.

Flight BCS18D had taken off from Leipzig, Germany, and the landing approach appeared normal. Preliminary ADS-B data, however, suggests that the aircraft was off the ideal landing ramp.

The jet ended up hitting the ground about 1.5 km short of the airport’s runway 19. The temperature at the time was 1°C and there was snow on the surface.

The 737-400 freighter was operated by SwiftAir on behalf of DHL and was in service for 31 years. The aircraft was delivered in passenger configuration in 1993 to Australian Airlines.

SwiftAir took over the Boeing in 2015 when it was converted to carry cargo.

The SwiftAir flight BCS18D (FlightRadar24)

About the Author

Ricardo Meier

Ricardo Meier

Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.

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