2 DHL planes gets struck with problems within 2 days, 1 fatality reported

This morning, a plane crashed whilst on approach to Vilnius (VNO) airport, killing 1.

This morning at around 5 AM local time, a 30 year-old Boeing 737-400 owned by DHL but operated by Swiftair, crashed in a residential neighbourhood in the town of Vilnius in Lithuania. The plane was carrying 4 crew members, one pilot was pronounced dead at the crash site, while the other 3 were sent for treatment. Despite the crash being in a residential area, extremely fortunately, the aircraft failed to make contact with any houses, as it crashed in the backyard of a resident’s house. 

Rescue teams were quick to respond. A firetruck was deployed from the airport roughly 1 KM away, while several more were deployed from the local fire station. According to flightradar24, the aircraft left its origin airport of Leipzig, Germany at around 2 AM UTC, and crashed at 3:28 UTC.

According to planespotters.net, the aircraft, registered EC-MFE with MSN 24445, started its life in 1993 for Australian carrier Australian Airlines, before transferring to Qantas in the same year. Then, it was transferred to Wat Phnom Airlines in Cambodia in 2013, before being converted for cargo in 2014. After its conversion, it was transferred to its current and final operator of Swiftair, an operator for DHL. The aircraft was destroyed on impact, and is damaged beyond repair, ending its nearly 32 years of service.

The cause for the accident is currently unknown.

In another incident yesterday, an Airbus A330-200F, operating for DHL by EAT Leipzig, had to make an emergency landing back in Hong Kong.

According to flightradar24, the 8.8 year-old Airbus A330-200F, which also originated in Leipzig with a stop in Delhi the day before. It reportedly encountered an “engine issue” shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong International Airport’s 07R runway at 04:20 AM UTC. The aircraft then did several circles near the airport, and landed back on its takeoff runway of 07R safely at 04:48 AM UTC with firetrucks on standby near the runway. After an uneventful landing, the aircraft could not move out of the runway, and was stuck around mid way down the runway until nearly an hour later when it was finally moved out of the runway by tow trucks. Due to this, around 50 flights were delayed that morning.

The aircraft, with the registration D-ALOS, MSN 1708, first flew for Qatar Airways Cargo in 2016, before transferring to Air Belgium and CGM Air Cargo respectively before being transferred to its current operator, DHL Aviation (EAT Leipzig), in October of this year. 

It is also to note that according to planespotters.net, the aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to Air Hong Kong soon.