Cristina Hodgson
A SPANISH carrier, Boeing 737-436 cargo plane, has crash-landed into a lake near Montpellier airport in southern France
The plane overshot the runway and nosedived into a lake early on Saturday morning, September 24, leading to three people being rescued from the aircraft.
According to a statement released from the department of Herault, located in Southern France, the three people onboard the aircraft were unharmed and safely removed from the plane.
The local authorities decided to close the airport while a specialised company removed the aircraft from the pond of Mauguio, that it had plunged into.
“The aircraft is immobilized at the end of the runway, partially submerged from its front part (also known as the nose of the plane. As a safety measure, Montpellier airport is closed to cargo and commercial flights for an undetermined period, pending the intervention of a specialized company to move the aircraft.” The statement read.
Montpellier airport – one of the 10 busiest in France – informed passengers on Saturday that it had shut its doors due to a ‘technical incident’ and urged them not to go to the airport.
According to Flightradar24 data, the plane was travelling a very fast 160 knots when it landed and was unable to stop in time to avoid the end of the runway.
The plane involved in the incident was a 29.7 years-old Boeing 737-400(SF) registration EC-NLS, currently operated by Swiftair, a Spanish carrier based in Madrid Barajas Airport.
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