According to him, the officials will soon talk to the crew members being treated at the Santaros Clinics, so the circumstances of the incident will start to become clear soon.
„So far, there are no signs, no facts that this was sabotage or a terrorist act. There is some talk about external influence on the plane“, Kasčiūnas told the 15 min. portal.
„Officials have already gone to Santaros to talk to the surviving crew members. They would open all the black boxes and discover what was happening inside. Whether it was a technical or pilot error, we will have to wait a little longer. The investigation could take up to a week,“ he stressed.
However, he assures us that the sabotage version has not yet been ruled out. According to the Minister, DHL has been contacted about the previous cases, urging them to „do their homework“.
„In the context of hybrid attacks, a similar scenario also comes to mind, but we do not have any information that would allow us to build a bridge to such a scenario. Let's wait for the investigation, and it will become clear; it is very important to find out what happened inside the plane“, Kasčiūnas said.
„There have been several discussions with this company (DHL – ELTA) on procedures to guard against such scenarios and manage procedures. They certainly have and should have done their homework“, he stressed.
The Minister assures that he is in contact with his foreign partners about the situation.
Landsbergis: investigation continues; no scenario ruled out
For his part, Gabrielius Landsbergis, the interim Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased on the social network X. The politician stressed that the law enforcement investigation was ongoing and that no possible scenario regarding the causes of the crash had been ruled out.
„Following the crash of a DHL cargo plane on its approach to Vilnius Airport, one crew member was tragically killed, and others were hospitalised. My condolences to the families of the victims,“ the politician wrote.
„The investigation is continuing, and no scenario is being ruled out,“ Landsbergis stressed.
ELTA recalls that early on Monday morning, a cargo plane of the German company DHL crashed in the capital, near Vilnius Airport, close to a residential house.
According to preliminary data, the pilot who died in the crash was a Spanish national. In addition, three persons on board, a Lithuanian, a German and a Spanish national, were injured. According to Elta, one of them is in a more severe condition, and the other has fewer injuries.
According to Valdas Benkunskas, the Mayor of the capital, 13 people were evacuated from the buildings near the site of the accident. Vilnius City Municipality will continue to care for them.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department, the aircraft is destroyed. The plane crashed near a house and set fire to nearby storerooms and a car. The fire has been contained.
Heavy forces, tension and the plane's engine: moments after a cargo plane crashed in Vilnius
According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, Head of the National Crisis Management Centre, initial data indicate that the plane crash was an accident. At the same time, Police Commissioner General Arūnas Paulauskas suggests that the possibility of a terrorist act should not be ruled out.
A pre-trial investigation has been opened into the improper maintenance or repair of vehicles, roads, or equipment. The Ministry of Justice has also initiated a safety investigation.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that incendiary devices sent on DHL flights from Lithuania to the UK and Germany in the summer were part of a Russian covert operation. Both shipments from Lithuania went to the same destination in the UK, one in Leipzig, Germany, before being loaded onto a cargo plane and the other at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, UK. The shipments were dispatched from Lithuania on 19 July, and both fires occurred on the night of July 20–21.
According to the Wall Street Journal, this Russian operation aimed to move parcels with incendiary devices onto passenger or cargo planes flying in the US and Canada to start fires.
Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene said that an international investigation into the DHL incendiary shipments has been launched, and arrests have been made. No further details of the investigation have been made public.
