The Prosecutor General’s Office of Lithuania has stated that the crash of a DHL cargo aircraft in Vilnius in late November 2024 was likely due to human error, based on all currently available evidence.
On March 26, 2025, the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office released a statement indicating that, during the pre-trial investigation of the crash, they reached out to the relevant Spanish authorities and asked for essential investigative steps to be carried out.
This included filing a report of suspicion against the Spanish pilot who survived the crash and is currently receiving treatment in his home country, as well as questioning him.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said that the crash is believed to have resulted from human error, specifically the deactivation of the hydraulic system.
This system is crucial for wing deployment, which could have led to the aircraft’s descent. Other versions of the accident during the investigation were dismissed, based on the evidence gathered.
The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau is currently conducting the investigation, led by a prosecutor from the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department.
On December 20, 2024, the Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Division completed the primary analysis of its safety investigation into the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder of the DHL cargo aircraft.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Justice reaffirmed that there was no evidence of “unlawful interference” related to the crash. As such, previous theories of terrorism or sabotage being behind the crash are no longer being considered.
On the morning of November 25, 2024, a DHL Boeing 737-400 freighter crashed near Vilnius Airport (VNO), close to a residential area. One pilot, a Spanish citizen, was killed in the crash. Three other people on the aircraft, nationals from Lithuania, Germany and Spain, were injured.
