During a landing in heavy snowfall, an airBaltic airliner went off the runway at Riga airport (RIX) in Latvia.
On December 3, 2021, the incident occurred. Flight BT102 from Stockholm, Sweden (ARN) to RIX was operated by an Airbus A220-300 with the registration YL-CSE.
Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkvis shared photos of the incident on Twitter.
“There were no injuries, and all 44 passengers were safely transported to the terminal and the aircraft will be towed to the hangar for inspection,” airBaltic announced in a social media post.
Neaizmirstama nedēļa: atgriežoties Rīgā, Stokholmas lidmašīna noslīdēja no skrejceļa. Paldies @airBaltic apkalpei, lidostai, ugunsdzēsējiem un NMPD par ātru rīcību, mieru un profesionalitāti! Cik saprotu, tad nekas nopietns nevienam nav atgadījies pic.twitter.com/sbuY9tKnOg
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) December 3, 2021
The Latvian airline stated that it is in close contact with authorities and would offer an update as soon as possible.
As a result of the incident, Riga Airport has closed runway 18/36. The airport has produced a SNOWTAM for flight crews, which warns about snowbanks on the taxiways and describes the taxiways and aprons as “poor.”
Poor visibility, according to the airport, played a factor in the accident.
airBaltic on flight BT102: pic.twitter.com/mm2Mj8RuTX
— airBaltic (@airBaltic) December 3, 2021
Photo cover credit: Twitter Edgars Rinkēvičs @edgarsrinkevics