A West Atlantic Boeing 737 freighter overshot the runway at Montpellier Airport and partially submerged into a lake nearby in the early hours on September 24, 2022.
Three crew members were onboard but escaped the incident unharmed, the local authority revealed in a statement.
The aircraft, registered as EC-NLS, is leased by SwiftAir, but at the time of the incident was operating a flight on behalf of West Atlantic.
The flight SWN5745 took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and reached Montpellier Mediterranee Airport (MPL) in southern France at approximately 02:50 local time.
Upon landing, the aircraft overran the end of the runway and reached a lake nearby. The nose gear landed in the water, while the rest of the fuselage remained on the ground.
Accident du #737 immatricule虂 EC-NLS exploite虂 par / sortie de piste pendant atterrissage survenue le 24/09/22 a虁 l鈥檃e虂roport de / 4 enque虃teurs sur place / ouverture d鈥檜ne enque虃te de se虂curite虂.
鈥 BEA (@BEA_Aero)
Montpellier Airport was closed following the incident until the aircraft is removed. All arriving and departing commercial flights were cancelled or diverted for the rest of the day.
鈥淎 technical incident prevents normal operation,鈥 the airport精东影业 announcement reads. 鈥淧assengers and those accompanying them are advised not to go to the airport until operations are possible. We encourage them to contact their airline and check the flight status in real time. Thank you for your understanding.鈥
Fermeture de l’ae虂roport de Montpellier jusqu’a虁 nouvel ordre : un incident technique empe虃che l’exploitation de se de虂rouler normalement. Nous invitons les passagers et leurs accompagnants a虁 ne pas se rendre a虁 l’ae虂roport. Merci de votre compre虂hension.
鈥 Ae虂roport Montpellier (@MPLaeroport)
French Bureau d’Enqu锚tes et d’Analyses pour la S茅curit茅 de l’Aviation civile (BEA) is at the scene and has opened an investigation.
Cette nuit un avion de fret en phase d鈥檃tterrissage a虁 l鈥檃e虂roport de est sorti de la piste.
Pas de blesse虂.
L鈥檃e虂roport de Montpellier est ferme虂 pour une dure虂e inde虂termine虂e aux vols commerciaux et aux vols de fret.
Communique虂 de presse鈥 Pre虂fet de l’He虂rault (@Prefet34)