Flight from Leipzig skids off runway at Bulgaria’s Varna Airport
An Air Via aircraft, a charter flight from Leipzig with 172 passengers aboard, left the runway at Varna Airport, Northeastern Bulgaria, while landing at 10.19am local time on May 24.
The passengers were taken out of the aircraft. While leaving the aircraft, two women aged 71 and 81 were injured. They sustained bruises and fractures on their legs and were in Saint Anna hospital in Varna, local news agency Focus said. One of the women is a Bulgarian and the other one is most probably a German, judging by her name, said Dr. Antoaneta Kasabova, deputy manager of the ER in Varna.
Varna Airport was closed and all flights to and from it were redirected to Bourgas Airport. Teams with the Civil Aviation Administration and with the unit investigating aviation accidents were dispatched to Varna Airport, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications said.
According to preliminary information, because of poor weather conditions, the pilot landed towards the middle of the runway and did not have enough space to stop.
A squall with a speed of 17 m/sec was blowing in Varna on Friday, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology said.
