Vilnius Airport in Lithuania was forced to close its operations on Wednesday, 21 June, around 16:20 (local time) after a Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 (registered OO-SNI) with 175 passengers and 6 crew on board lost its left inner main gear while lining up on the departure runway for flight SN2372 destination Brussels, Belgium.
As a result, the aircraft that blocked the taxiway forced several aircraft to divert to other airports (Kaunas, Riga and Helsinki). Learning the news, a LOT Polish Airlines flight headed back to Warsaw.
A passenger on board told local press that the wheel suddenly fell off: “an explosion was heard, parts of the tire were scattered. At first, passengers were not allowed to move around. Ground crew arrived then everyone was able to leave the aircraft.”
Passengers safely left the aircraft and were awaited by ground staff and will leave for Belgium on another plane that is scheduled to depart around midnight.
“A technical assessment of the situation is underway, preparations are being made to remove the plane from the taxiway. The runway of the Vilnius airport is closed until 21:00 local time,” wrote the representative of the airport on social media.
Passengers are invited to follow the information on the billboards and on the official website of Vilnius Airport.
This post was published on 21 June 2023 19:47
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