The flights will not resume this Sunday morning at Montpellier airport. The cargo plane that missed its landing and ended up in the Etang de l’Or in Mauguio still could not be removed. The front part of this Boeing 737 is submerged. The airport’s only runway is still blocked. The accident took place in the night from Friday to Saturday when there were torrential rains. 3 people were on the plane. No one was hurt.
How to get it out of the pond?
So why has the plane still not been taken out of the pond? For several reasons. We had to make sure that the nose landing gear was functional and that it could roll. Especially since you have to succeed in extracting it from the water then turning it over and putting it back in the right direction to evacuate it.
Several hypotheses were on the table: should it be fired? Or lift it?
All the stakeholders have decided. The company operating the plane, the insurers, the experts, Boeing, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the airport teams have decided to transport in the next few hours a crane to move it. It will be necessary to stabilize the place where it will be positioned. This technically complex maneuver will begin on Sunday morning.
Ecological and financial issues
There are several risks to consider. The first is Pollution. Tank leakage should be avoided. Several thousand liters of fuel could spill into the water. Moreover, absorbent floating socks have been put in place.
Then there is a big financial stake. A Boeing 737 is expensive and it will be necessary to limit the breakage by moving it. The Swedish company West Atlantique, which owns the plane, wants to recover it in the best possible condition. And the cessation of flights also represents a shortfall for Montpellier airport. Normally, 5,000 to 7,000 passengers are welcomed there every day.
An investigation into the circumstances of the accident
Four officers from the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis were on site this Saturday to make findings on and around the device. They are the ones responsible for investigating the circumstances and causes of the accident. The BEA has opened an investigation of security. Investigators were able to recover the flight recorders. Under the authority of the public prosecutor, the Air Transport Gendarmerie was seized to carry out investigations into the circumstances of the accident.