Polish cargo plane makes emergency landing on frozen Estonian lake, 1 crew member injured

Cargo plane forced to land on frozen Estonian lake

TALLINN, Estonia — A cargo plane with engine and landing gear problems made an emergency landing Thursday on the frozen surface of a lake outside the Estonian capital, authorities said.

One of the six crew members suffered minor injuries and emergency workers were scrambling to empty the plane’s fuel tanks before it polluted the lake, which is the main source of drinking water for Tallinn’s 400,000 residents.

The DHL-chartered Antonov AN26 turboprop aircraft, en route from Finland to Estonia, landed on the ice of Lake Ulemiste just next to Tallinn, Economy Ministry spokesman Kalev Vapper said.

“The plane is lying on the ice now, but it has started to sink slowly,” said Vapper, adding that the plane had incurred minor damage during the landing.

Vapper said the plane was preparing to land at Tallinn’s airport when one part of the landing gear failed to lower. Later, while the plane was making a second approach toward the airport, one of its engines started to malfunction. The pilot then decided to land on the iced-over lake.

Vapper said it was “most unusual” that a plane would make an emergency landing on ice.

“It was a dangerous situation because the ice on the lake had already started to melt,” he said. “We’ve been very lucky to have had such a harsh winter.”

The plane, owned by Polish air cargo company Exin Co. Ltd, was chartered by DHL to fly between Tallinn and the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

Estonian authorities said they would investigate the incident.