An Airbus A320-232 aircraft, with registry LY-NVL, of Lithuanian aircraft leasing and charter company Avion Express was involved in a temporary runway excursion incident during landing at Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania, on Saturday, February 3rd.
Flight X9-8242 was on a landing roll after an approximately two-hour flight from Milan, Italy when the A320 aircraft veered right to the grassy runoff beside the runway. The incident took place at 2:20 PM (UTC+2).
As the plane touched dirt, mud sprayed onto the airframe, obscuring visibility. Despite this, the A320 could taxi to the ramp on its power and facilitated the safe disembarkation of its occupants.
The flight carried 179 passengers and six crew members, based on an article from FL360aero. Fortunately, the crew could report that all passengers and crew were unharmed due to the mishap.
At the time of the incident, weather conditions at Vilnius Airport were reported as follows:
- Wind: 280 degrees at 13 knots (24 km/h)
- Visibility: 5,000 meters with light drizzle
- Mist: Visibility reduced to 300 meters in mist patches
- Broken cloud cover: Cloud base at 300 feet
- Temperature: 5°C
- Dew point: 4°C
The runway was closed to all flights until 5:40 PM local time, with incoming flights diverted to Kaunas and Palanga airports.
Relevant aviation authorities are currently investigating the incident.
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