One Dead, Three Injured in Lithuania Cargo Jet Crash

One Dead, Three Injured in Lithuania Cargo Jet Crash
Above: Cargo is offloaded from an aircraft operated by DHL at Sydney Airport on Aug. 27, 2024. Image copyright: Brent Lewin/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Facts

  • A DHL cargo plane crashed on Monday as it attempted to land at Lithuania's Vilnius airport, killing one person and injuring three others.

  • According to authorities, the plane, a Boeing 737 operated for DHL by the Spanish cargo airline Swiftair, had departed from the company's hub at Leipzig Airport in Germany at around 3:00 pm local time and crashed an hour and a half later.


The Spin

Pro-Russia narrative

It's too early to determine the cause of this crash, and it was likely due to human error. There's no indication that the flight was sabotaged. The tragic truth is that this was probably a result of human exhaustion and miscommunication, or perhaps a technical issue.

Anti-Russia narrative

Russia has become increasingly antagonistic and even more brazen in its attacks. Recent threats at a DHL warehouse in Germany were likely tests by Russia to practice for future terrorist intentions. It's entirely possible that this crash was the result of Russian sabotage.


Metaculus Prediction


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