News / Crew member dies as DHL aircraft crashes at Vilnius, raising security fears

© Stephane Mutzenberg

Concerns over terrorism in Europe heightened this morning after an ageing 737-400F, operating on behalf of DHL, crashed on approach to Vilnius Airport. One crew member died, while three others are in hospital. 

Local police said the cause of the crash was under investigation, but said terrorism could not yet be ruled out as Lithuania had been touted as one of the origin countries of recent unsafe shipments. 

The aircraft, operated by Swiftair, was flying from Leipzig. According to Aviation Herald, the crew were in touch with air traffic control, but did not switch over to report to the airport tower on approach.

The plane, which in its last recorded position appeared to be some 80ft lower than it should have been, ended up hitting a residential building and bursting into flames. 

The aircraft, which departed from Leipzig at 2.08am GMT, split into pieces after hitting the ground, sliding more than 100 metres before hitting the building. No one on the ground was injured. 

DHL said: “There were a total of four people on board and our thoughts are with them and their relatives. The cause of the accident is still unknown and an investigation is already under way.” 

Vilnius Airport warned of some delays to other flights. It said: “The city’s special services are working at the scene of the incident and rescue operations are also attended by the Vilnius Airport Fire Service crews. 

“We would like to inform you that due to the ongoing rescue operations, several planned departures have been delayed, and also one plane flying from Hurghada to Vilnius was redirected to Riga. Currently, airplanes are already taking off from Vilnius Airport.” 

The aircraft, EC-MFE, (pictured) was more than 31 years old, and had been operated by seven companies over its lifespan. 

Europe’s parcel networks have faced disruption in past months with the discovery of ‘incendiary’ devices in packages. One caused a warehouse fire in the UK, another caught fire in DHL’s hub in Leipzig, while a third caught fire on a lorry in Poland. The devices are said to have come from Baltic countries, with some reports indicating they were intended as a test run for other explosive shipments. 

Sources suggested that the low level of explosives in the packages meant they were difficult to detect with normal security.

Brandon Fried, head of the US Airforwarders Association, speaking on the sideline of the ACF in Miami this month, said: “To our understanding, they sent a combination of shipments that contained dangerous goods, or dangerous explosives, and they had timers on them.” 

He added that the US approach of multi-layered security appeared to be working, but said more data was also key. 

“The reality is that this is the age of increased data requirements, that are going to be very much a part of security detection. You might not see everything, so why don’t we use data to see trends and to see some bad guys and where they might be shipping with other bad guys?  

“Whether or not it’s Russia behind it, really doesn’t matter to us. I mean, it’s concerning if Russia’s behind that, but we’ll let others worry about that. But the reality is we feel that ACAS is doing its job. 

“This is a multi-layered, multi-faceted approach to security. One tool is not going to be able to detect everything. So if one thing doesn’t catch them, something else will catch them.” 

Spain’s Swiftair operates seven 737 freighters for DHL, as well as four ATRs for FedEx.  

There is a video of the aircraft on approach here.