Authorities say that although the plane is partially submerged in the lake and fuel has leaked out, Tallinn's drinking water is not at risk. Photo used courtesy of the Estonian Rescue Service.
TALLINN — A cargo airplane that crash landed on a frozen lake in Tallinn is partially submerged in the water, putting the city’s primary water supply at risk for contamination.
Rescue teams are continuing to remove the cargo aircraft from Lake Ülemiste, where it was forced to make an emergency landing on the lake’s frozen surface Thursday after landing gear and fuel problems.
Rescue teams along with [private_supervisor]the construction company AS Temiir and its heavy equipment started pulling the aircraft out of the water Thursday night at 8 p.m. The plane is now 20 m away from dry land. Rescuers took a break Friday at 5:15 a.m. and continued a few hours later when another shift arrived.
The cargo carrier AN26, belonging to the Polish EXIN company landed in the lake, located directly east of Tallinn International Airport Thursday morning at 10:18 a.m. The aircraft carried DHL shipments. The aircraft had six crew members on board, one of whom has been hospitalized with light injuries.
Long haul
Pulling the aircraft toward land has not been easy. The wire ropes connecting the plane with the excavator broke repeatedly and eventually construction and military equipment was tried to haul the heavy plane off the ice without further submerging it.
However, Peeter Randoja, press spokesman of Northern Estonia Rescue Board told Baltic Reports that if everything goes as planned, then the plane should reach the land by the end of the day.
Possible contamination?
Randoja said so far there has been no water contamination.
More than 2,000 liters of airplane fuel was pumped out of the plane last night and 700-800 liters leaked, but most of it was gathered with absorbent beams, evaporated or was picked out of the snow and lake water, as oil and gas floats on the surface of water.
“One can’t really talk about any contamination as the pollution is minimal, and the fuel is fast to vaporize,” said Randoja.
The Tallinn Water Company said Friday morning that the Estonian capital’s drinking water still meets all quality requirements — a quality test did not show any deterioration or signs of oil compounds in the untreated water.
Priit Koff, press spokesman of the Tallinn Water Company told Baltic Reports that the emergency landing has not affected the quality of drinking water at all. However, the water company is continuing to frequently test the water.
VIDEO OF RESCUE EFFORT:
[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]the construction company AS Temiir and its heavy equipment started pulling the aircraft out of the water Thursday night at 8 p.m. The plane is now 20 m away from dry land. Rescuers took a break Friday at 5:15 a.m. and continued a few hours later when another shift arrived.
The cargo carrier AN26, belonging to the Polish EXIN company landed in the lake, located directly east of Tallinn International Airport Thursday morning at 10:18 a.m. The aircraft carried DHL shipments. The aircraft had six crew members on board, one of whom has been hospitalized with light injuries.
Long haul
Pulling the aircraft toward land has not been easy. The wire ropes connecting the plane with the excavator broke repeatedly and eventually construction and military equipment was tried to haul the heavy plane off the ice without further submerging it.
However, Peeter Randoja, press spokesman of Northern Estonia Rescue Board told Baltic Reports that if everything goes as planned, then the plane should reach the land by the end of the day.
Possible contamination?
Randoja said so far there has been no water contamination.
More than 2,000 liters of airplane fuel was pumped out of the plane last night and 700-800 liters leaked, but most of it was gathered with absorbent beams, evaporated or was picked out of the snow and lake water, as oil and gas floats on the surface of water.
“One can’t really talk about any contamination as the pollution is minimal, and the fuel is fast to vaporize,” said Randoja.
The Tallinn Water Company said Friday morning that the Estonian capital’s drinking water still meets all quality requirements — a quality test did not show any deterioration or signs of oil compounds in the untreated water.
Priit Koff, press spokesman of the Tallinn Water Company told Baltic Reports that the emergency landing has not affected the quality of drinking water at all. However, the water company is continuing to frequently test the water.
VIDEO OF RESCUE EFFORT:
[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]the construction company AS Temiir and its heavy equipment started pulling the aircraft out of the water Thursday night at 8 p.m. The plane is now 20 m away from dry land. Rescuers took a break Friday at 5:15 a.m. and continued a few hours later when another shift arrived.
The cargo carrier AN26, belonging to the Polish EXIN company landed in the lake, located directly east of Tallinn International Airport Thursday morning at 10:18 a.m. The aircraft carried DHL shipments. The aircraft had six crew members on board, one of whom has been hospitalized with light injuries.
Long haul
Pulling the aircraft toward land has not been easy. The wire ropes connecting the plane with the excavator broke repeatedly and eventually construction and military equipment was tried to haul the heavy plane off the ice without further submerging it.
However, Peeter Randoja, press spokesman of Northern Estonia Rescue Board told Baltic Reports that if everything goes as planned, then the plane should reach the land by the end of the day.
Possible contamination?
Randoja said so far there has been no water contamination.
More than 2,000 liters of airplane fuel was pumped out of the plane last night and 700-800 liters leaked, but most of it was gathered with absorbent beams, evaporated or was picked out of the snow and lake water, as oil and gas floats on the surface of water.
“One can’t really talk about any contamination as the pollution is minimal, and the fuel is fast to vaporize,” said Randoja.
The Tallinn Water Company said Friday morning that the Estonian capital’s drinking water still meets all quality requirements — a quality test did not show any deterioration or signs of oil compounds in the untreated water.
Priit Koff, press spokesman of the Tallinn Water Company told Baltic Reports that the emergency landing has not affected the quality of drinking water at all. However, the water company is continuing to frequently test the water.
VIDEO OF RESCUE EFFORT:
[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]the construction company AS Temiir and its heavy equipment started pulling the aircraft out of the water Thursday night at 8 p.m. The plane is now 20 m away from dry land. Rescuers took a break Friday at 5:15 a.m. and continued a few hours later when another shift arrived.
The cargo carrier AN26, belonging to the Polish EXIN company landed in the lake, located directly east of Tallinn International Airport Thursday morning at 10:18 a.m. The aircraft carried DHL shipments. The aircraft had six crew members on board, one of whom has been hospitalized with light injuries.
Long haul
Pulling the aircraft toward land has not been easy. The wire ropes connecting the plane with the excavator broke repeatedly and eventually construction and military equipment was tried to haul the heavy plane off the ice without further submerging it.
However, Peeter Randoja, press spokesman of Northern Estonia Rescue Board told Baltic Reports that if everything goes as planned, then the plane should reach the land by the end of the day.
Possible contamination?
Randoja said so far there has been no water contamination.
More than 2,000 liters of airplane fuel was pumped out of the plane last night and 700-800 liters leaked, but most of it was gathered with absorbent beams, evaporated or was picked out of the snow and lake water, as oil and gas floats on the surface of water.
“One can’t really talk about any contamination as the pollution is minimal, and the fuel is fast to vaporize,” said Randoja.
The Tallinn Water Company said Friday morning that the Estonian capital’s drinking water still meets all quality requirements — a quality test did not show any deterioration or signs of oil compounds in the untreated water.
Priit Koff, press spokesman of the Tallinn Water Company told Baltic Reports that the emergency landing has not affected the quality of drinking water at all. However, the water company is continuing to frequently test the water.
VIDEO OF RESCUE EFFORT:
[/private_subscription 1 year]
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