Grazes light poles

Belgrade: Passenger jet “slashed open” during take-off

After colliding with light poles and navigation antennas, the Embraer E-195 had to land again after about an hour. The cabin shell of the aircraft was slit open.(Bild: twitter.com/JacdecNew)

Passengers who wanted to fly from Belgrade to Düsseldorf with Marathon Airlines on Sunday did not get far. The pilots were only able to lift the Embraer E-195 into the air after the end of the taxiway. However, the passenger plane hit several light poles and navigation antennas and had to turn back.

The aircraft, which is leased by Air Serbia to Marathon Airlines, only reached an altitude of around 1200 meters, but it was not possible to complete the route. The damage to the fuselage, the left wing and the elevator was simply severe, as reported by airportal.hu.

The Embraer E-195 returned and landed safely at Belgrade Airport. Passengers and crew were uninjured. They were escorted out of the aircraft by rescue workers.

Course of the accident not yet clear
Fuel flowed out of the aircraft through the leak in the fuselage. To be on the safe side, firefighters sprayed extinguishing foam to prevent a fire from developing. It is not yet known how this dangerous incident occurred or why the pilots took so long to allow the plane to take off. Air Serbia explained on Sunday evening that there had been a "technical defect". However, no further information was provided.