• On the night of Friday to Saturday, Boeing 737 of the West Atlantic company, suffered an accident and ended its race in the pond of gold.

  • Traffic at Montpellier airport was paralyzed for around sixty hours, before resuming on Monday afternoon.

  • “Several hundred people intervened on the site.

    We had to examine the runway and be sure that this incident had no material consequences that could lead to another accident, ”explains the boss of the airport, Emmanuel Brehmer.

Traffic has resumed at Montpellier airport after a plane crash that paralyzed air traffic in the Hérault prefecture for nearly 60 hours.

“We must guarantee a certain number of safety and security standards, developed, shortly before the resumption of flights, Emmanuel Brehmer, the president of the airport's management board.

It was necessary to restore capacity and safety to the entire area around the aircraft.

Several hundred people intervened on the site.

We had to examine the track and be certain that this incident had no material consequences that could lead to another accident”.

On Saturday, around 2:30 a.m., a Boeing 737 from the West Atlantic company serving as a freight plane swerved off the runway and partially ended its race in the gold pond, as a violent storm swept over Montpelier.

"It was necessary to carry out major rescue operations beforehand and the Martin Lifting company did a remarkable job, in difficult conditions", continues the boss of the airport.

Ecological risks

The risk being that the thousands of liters of fuel will spill into this Natura 2000 zone. The plane could not be emptied of its kerosene, nor of its cargo: were taken in consultation with numerous experts.

The very complex lifting operations for this device of approximately 50 tons (with the load) lasted until Monday morning.

Before relief.

Traffic gradually resumed on Monday, with many companies canceling scheduled flights in the face of uncertainty.

Flights are expected to resume as normal on Tuesday.

Travelers are nevertheless advised to consult their airlines.

10,000 to 15,000 passengers affected

In total, a hundred flights and between 10,000 and 15,000 passengers were affected by this accident, with a considerable cost for the airport.

“It is important, but we cannot quantify it precisely yet.

But we didn't need that after the two years of Covid-19 where we wanted to maintain jobs at all costs but the priority of priorities is that there were no victims, including the pilot of the damaged aircraft".

The Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) has opened an investigation.

Four agents were on site this Saturday.

They were able to recover the flight recorders, in order to understand the circumstances and the causes of the accident Under the authority of the public prosecutor, the air transport gendarmerie was seized to carry out investigations into the circumstances of the accident .

“It is an unfortunate accident, fortunately without victim, underlines Emmanuel Brehmer.

The airport is completely up to safety standards, as are the company and the crews.

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