Further search for the cause of the plane crash in Lithuania

Investigators have now recovered the flight recorders. In addition to the flight data recorder, the voice recorder was also found, the Ministry of Justice said. Both devices were removed from the wreckage around midday and will now be examined.

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda has called for excessive speculation about the cause of the crash of a cargo plane in Vilnius. The suspicion of a possible act of sabotage should not be overemphasized, but neither should it be downplayed. At the same time, such a version cannot be ruled out, Nauseda said on Lithuanian radio this morning.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said on ZDF’s “heute journal” when asked whether Russia was behind the crash: “We’re looking at it closely, we can’t say that at the moment.” He added: “It could be so.” Forms of so-called hybrid warfare can currently also be seen in Germany. “That’s why it needs to be examined carefully.” However, a culprit will only be named if this can be comprehensibly proven.

Interview with surviving crew members

Four people were on board the plane, which hit the ground and crashed for unknown reasons shortly before it was scheduled to land near the airport in a residential area. One of the crew members died in the crash on Monday morning, three others – including a German – are receiving medical treatment in hospital. According to media reports, the condition of at least one crew member is said to be serious.

Investigators are now hoping that the survivors will provide information about the cause of the crash. According to police chief Arunas Paulauskas, one of the injured people has already been spoken to in the hospital. There were no signs of unusual activity on board or inside the aircraft, he said on Lithuanian television that evening. It appears as if the flight was routine and then there was an impact with the ground.

Crashed in front of the airport

The plane crashed a few kilometers from the airport. The inspection of the airport’s approach systems by Polish air traffic control, which was carried out after the crash as part of a previously planned routine inspection, could also provide further information.

According to Lithuanian information, experts from abroad will also take part in the investigation. Four investigators from Germany and two from Spain are expected to arrive in Lithuania, and twelve people from the USA are also expected to support the search for the cause of the accident – including five from the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. According to Swift Air, the plane involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-400. According to the authorities, their debris slid several hundred meters after the crash and damaged a residential building. Nobody was injured.

Baerbock demands full clarification

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a full investigation into the crash and said authorities in both countries were currently investigating “in all directions.” In addition to a technical accident, she did not rule out the possibility of an intentionally caused crash. In Europe there have recently been several “hybrid attacks” on individuals or infrastructure, said the Green politician, also with a view to the damage to two data cables in the Baltic Sea that occurred a week ago.

According to DHL, there has so far been no evidence of suspicious packages on board the plane, and according to Minister Boris Pistorius, the Federal Ministry of Defense has not yet had any information about a possible explosive device. The SPD politician called for increased sensitivity for certain freight shipments. “At the same time, we also know that there is probably no 100% safety in this field. But the gaps that exist and that are identified must be closed,” said the minister and added: “Both civil aviation knows this military.”

The plane crash raises questions and fears, especially because German security authorities warned at the end of August about “unconventional incendiary devices” being sent by unknown persons via freight service providers. At the time, security circles linked the warning to an incident at the DHL logistics center in Leipzig, which serves as the company’s global hub. A package sent from the Baltics containing an incendiary device is said to have caught fire in July. Based on the investigation, arrests were also made in Lithuania, which were confirmed by the Prosecutor General’s Office in Vilnius earlier this month.