France shut airport as plane skids into lake and overshoots runway
The airport in Montpellier, a city in southern France, was shut down by French officials on Saturday for an indeterminate amount of time after a cargo plane overran the runway and ended up with its nose in a lake nearby, according to AFP.
Images showed the West Atlantic cargo carrier’s Boeing 737 tilted, its body sitting on the ground and its nose in the lake.
According to local authorities, the three crew members survived the early-morning Saturday collision without being wounded.
As a security precaution and until a specialized company arrived to take the plane away, the prefecture for the Herault region announced that the airport would be closed to both passenger and cargo planes until further notice.
“We will not reopen the airport as long as the aircraft is on the runway and the investigation is not finished,” AFP was informed by an airport source who requested anonymity.
also the airport source reveal “After the removal of the aircraft, the runway will also be carefully checked.”
On Saturday, there were twenty-one commercial flights scheduled at the airport, which during the busiest times of the year handles up to 197,000 passengers per month.
“A technical incident prevents normal operation,” According to a message in English posted on the airport’s website, “closure of Montpellier airport.”
According to the website, flights were either canceled or diverted to Marseille.
AFP/SaharaReporters
