Is Vilnius Airport open? Major European airport closes after LOT passenger plane skids off runway grounding flights
A major European airport was closed after a LOT passenger plane skidded off the runway.
The Polish carrier’s aircraft, which had 63 passengers and four crew members on board, touched down at 1:43 p.m. local time on Wednesday but veered off the paved surface while taxiing toward the terminal. All passengers disembarked safely, and no injuries were reported.
The airport had been expected to reopen on Wednesday evening, but it remained closed until the early hours of Thursday as investigators looked into the cause of the incident. In an update, Vilnius Airport said: “We inform you that operations at Vilnius Airport were resumed at 03:55 after the ‘LOT Polish Airlines’ aircraft was removed from the taxiway.
“On November 27th, flight delays are possible due to disruptions in crew and aircraft rotations,” officials added. Dozens of flights were canceled or rerouted on Wednesday due to the incident.
A passenger on the flight told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT that “there was no panic among the passengers, everyone was in order,” and that the “LOT airline stewards acted very orderly.” The airport said the reason the aircraft skidded off of the taxiway would be investigated by Lithuania’s justice ministry.
Flight-tracking data on Wednesday showed the plane stopped on the northern side of the airport, where several service vehicles, including a fire engine, surrounded the aircraft. LOT spokesperson Krzysztof Moczulski wrote on social media that the plane “left the paved taxiway surface” during the final phase of the flight.