Investigators recover flight recorder after crash in Lithuania

The search for the cause of the accident continues following the crash of a cargo plane coming from Germany in Lithuania. With the flight recorders, the investigators have found a potentially crucial piece of the puzzle for their investigations. One day after the crash of the Swift Air plane, which was on its way from Leipzig to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on behalf of DHL, the flight data recorder and voice recorder were recovered from the wreckage. As a so-called black box, they could provide information about the previously unknown cause of the accident, which is still the subject of speculation. Despite progress in the investigation, it remains unclear exactly what happened.

The plane crashed into the ground in a residential area near the capital's airport in the early hours of Monday morning shortly before its planned landing. One crew member was killed. Lithuanian police chief Arunas Paulauskas assumed that the investigation of the accident site could be completed in two to three days. According to the head of the National Crisis Management Center, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, once the remains of the completely destroyed aircraft have been removed and stored, it will be a matter of examining, evaluating and comparing the collected data and information "calmly and consistently".

German investigators on site

Foreign experts are also to be involved in the investigations. According to information from Lithuania, investigators from Germany have already arrived, and experts from Spain and the USA are also to support the search for the cause of the accident - including from aircraft manufacturer Boeing. According to Swift Air, the plane involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-400, the wreckage of which, according to the authorities, had skidded several hundred meters after the crash and damaged a residential building. No one was injured.

The police appealed to the residents of Vilnius to provide the authorities with any videos that may contain information about the plane that crashed. The authorities also explored the area of the airport and the crash site with a drone and interviewed eyewitnesses to the incident, which has caused a lot of commotion and unrest. According to Paulauskas, the circumstances of the accident showed that the incident was probably not caused by an external influence.

President warns against jumping to conclusions

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda called on people to refrain from speculating too much about the cause of the crash. The suspicion of a possible act of sabotage should not be overemphasized, but neither should it be played down. At the same time, such a version cannot be ruled out, said Nauseda, who has already visited the accident site himself. According to him, there is not yet enough information available to determine the cause of the accident.

The plane crash raises questions and fears in particular because German security authorities had warned of "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown persons via freight service providers at the end of August. At the time, the warning was linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics center in Leipzig, which acts as the company's global hub. In July, a parcel sent from the Baltic States containing an incendiary device is said to have caught fire there. Based on the investigation, arrests were also made in Lithuania, which were confirmed by the General Prosecutor's Office in Vilnius earlier this month.