The Spanish pilot injured in a DHL cargo aircraft crash in Vilnius in late November 2024 has been transferred to his home country for further treatment.
The pilot was initially taken to Vilnius Santaros Clinics, where his condition was reported as critical.
“The patient injured in the plane crash received the highest level of medical care by the medical staff of the Santaros Clinics,” Jurgita Juozaitytė-Markevičienė, Head of Santaros Clinics Communication Service, told Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT. “At the request of his family, he was transferred to Spain for further treatment.”
Another pilot, also a Spanish citizen, was killed in the crash. Two other crew members on board, nationals from Germany and Lithuania, suffered serious injuries. They were taken to Vilnius University Hospital. However, the hospital declined to provide details about their treatment due to requests from the patients and their families, LRT said.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-400, freighter operated by Swiftair of Spain on behalf of global logistics giant DHL, crashed near Vilnius Airport (VNO) early in the morning of November 25, 2024.
Despite the crash occurring in a residential area, no one living nearby was harmed.
Investigation ongoing
Flight BCS18D had taken off from Leipzig for a one-hour and 20-minute flight to Vilnius. As the aircraft began its descent, everything seemed normal, and it was on the right path to land on runway 19. However, at 200 meters altitude and traveling at around 150 knots, the flight data suddenly stopped.
AeroTime reviewed video footage showing the aircraft in a stable landing configuration, with few indications of any issues as it flew over the Liepkalnis Hill area, a few hundred meters from the runway threshold. It then abruptly banked right before crashing into the ground.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Vilnius County Chief Police Commissariat.
So far, experts seem to agree on one thing: something happened unexpectedly.
“What happened in the last stage of the flight, which caused the accident, was unexpected for the crew, otherwise they would have communicated about it,” local aviation safety expert Vidas Kaupelis told LRT on December 1, 2024.
Although investigators have yet to completely dismiss the idea of terrorism or sabotage, there is currently no evidence to support this theory.
“We cannot rule it out, but as I say, we cannot make any assumptions, there is no information about it,” Darius Jauniškis, the Head of the State Security Department, stated.