VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — A DHL cargo plane crashed on approach to an airport in Lithuania's capital and skidded into a house Monday morning, killing a Spanish crew member but not harming anyone on the ground. The cause is under investigation.
A surveillance video showed the plane descending normally as it approached the airport before sunrise, and then exploding into a huge ball of fire behind a building. The moment of impact could not be seen in the video.
Lithuanian officials acknowledged that one line of inquiry will be whether Russia played a role given its suspected involvement in other cases of sabotage — although they stressed that there is no evidence pointing to that at this stage.
“Without a doubt, we cannot rule out the terrorism version,” said Darius Jauniškis, chief of Lithuanian intelligence.
Western security officials suspect that Russian intelligence is carrying out sabotage against their nations in retaliation for their support for Ukraine — including arson attacks, disinformation and by putting incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes. In July one caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another ignited in a warehouse in England.
Polish prosecutors said last month that parcels with camouflaged explosives were sent via cargo companies to EU countries and Britain to “test the transfer channel for such parcels” that were ultimately destined for the U.S. and Canada.
“We see Russia becoming more aggressive,” Jauniškis said. “But for now, we really cannot make any attributions or point fingers at anyone, because there is no information about it.”
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany, a major freight hub, and one of the injured was a German citizen.
The German transportation ministry said that experts from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation would be sent to Lithuania to help with the investigation.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was in Italy for a meeting of foreign ministers from the world's most industrialized countries, expressed sympathy with the victims and said a hybrid attack could not be ruled out.
“We and our Lithuanian partners must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or, after last week, another hybrid incident. That shows what volatile times we are living in in the middle of Europe,” Baerbock said.
She was apparently referring to damage to two data cables under the Baltic Sea, one of which ends in Germany, which German officials believe was caused by sabotage.
The head of Lithuania's firefighting service said that the plane skidded a few hundred meters (yards), and photos showed smoke rising from a damaged structure in an area of barren trees.
“Thankfully, despite the crash occurring in a residential area, no lives have been lost among the local population,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said after meeting with rescue officials.
Rescue workers sealed off the area, and fragments of the plane in DHL’s trademark yellow could be seen amid wreckage scattered across the crash site.
The cargo aircraft was carrying four people when it crashed at 5:30 a.m. local time. One person, a Spanish citizen, was declared dead and the other three crew members — who were Spanish, German and Lithuanian citizens — were injured, said Ramūnas Matonis, the head of communications for Lithuanian police, in an email.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. DHL said in an emailed comment that the plane “made a forced landing” about a kilometer (half a miles) from the Vilnius airport, adding: “The cause of the accident is still unknown and an investigation is already underway.” Swiftair did not comment.
“Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people," said Renatas Požėla, chief of the Fire and Rescue Department.
One eyewitness, who gave her name only as Svaja, ran to a window when a light as bright as a red sun filled her room and she heard an explosion, followed by flashes and black smoke.
“I saw a fireball,” she said. “My first thought is that a world (war) has begun and it’s time to grab the documents and run somewhere to a shelter, to a basement.”
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, the Lithuanian defense minister, said “there were definitely no external factors that could have damaged the plane.”
“We can clearly see that,” Kasčiūnas said. "However, to find out what happened inside the plane, it will be necessary to interview the surviving crew members. And of course, the black box. That will take some time.”
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24, analyzed by the AP, showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) short of the runway.
Weather at the airport was around freezing at the time of the crash, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 30 kph (18 mph).
The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that’s not unusual for cargo flights.
The prime minister cautioned against speculation, saying investigators needed time to do their job.
“The responsible agencies are working diligently,” Šimonytė said. “I urge everyone to have confidence in the investigating authorities’ ability to conduct a thorough and professional investigation within an optimal timeframe. Only these investigations will uncover the true causes of the incident — speculation and guesswork will not help establish the truth.”
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This story corrects the title of Renatas Požėla.
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Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed.