Laurence Dollimore
A SPANISH pilot has died after the cargo plane he was flying crashed into a house.
The accident occured near Vilnius, Lithuania, at around 5.30am on Monday after the Boeing 737-476 departed from Leipzig in Germany.
In CCTV footage shared on X, the plane can be seen heading towards the ground at speed before disappearing out of view behind a row of warehouses.
Suddenly, a huge fireball erupts into the sky as the plane crashes into a two-storey home, reports El Español.
Incredibly, there were no reports of casualties on the ground.
“One crew member was found lifeless, and two others were rescued and taken to hospital,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the country’s National Crisis Management Center (NKVC).
It later transpired that the crew member was in fact the pilot of the plane.
According to the mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, the plane flew through the house and crashed in the garden.
“The 12 residents of the house are safe and have been evacuated,” he added.
The Boeing 737-476 (SF), operated by a DHL contractor, was flying from Leipzig to Lithuania and officials said the cause of the accident was still being investigated.
Authorities in Spain have launched their own probe into the crash.
Vilnius airport saw some flights delayed in the immediate aftermath of the crash while a flight to Riga, Latvia, was cancelled.
