An Embraer E195LR aircraft belonging to Marathon Airlines but on wet lease to Air Serbia had to land back at the airport in Belgrade after hitting the runway lights on take-off and substantially damaging the body of the plane.
On Sunday evening, passengers aboard Air Serbia flight JU324, headed to Düsseldorf, heard a loud bang during take-off from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. Soon after, the plane diverted back to the airport, but had to spend about one hour in the air to burn enough fuel to allow for a safe landing. During the circling around, the pilots also performed a low pass above the runway so ground staff could take a look at the damage sustained by the aircraft.
Air Serbia Embraer E195LR damaged after reportedly hitting runway equipment on departure from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia. The aircraft made an emergency return landing shortly after takeoff. pic.twitter.com/X90wA8v0H0
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) February 18, 2024
Although operating an Air Serbia flight, the Embraer was staffed by Marathon Airlines pilots and cabin crew. According to preliminary reports, the pilot chose to use a shorter runway, against air traffic control advise, and had insufficient room to take off, thus hitting the lights. The exact details of the incident however are yet to be confirmed.
Regardless of how the collision occurred, all 106 passengers aboard safely got off the plane after it landed back at the airport, where emergency services were waiting. The aircraft on the other hand sustained substantial damaged and is unlikely to be returned to operations, at least not any time soon.
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) February 18, 2024
“The aircraft landed safely at Belgrade Airport. Air Serbia regrets for the inconvenience caused and is doing everything in its power for the flight to continue as soon as possible. The safety of passengers was not compromised at any time”, Air Serbia said in a statement.
The incident put the airport on stand-by for a while, with no other flights departing and some incoming flights, including a Wizz Air flight from Dortmund and an Austrian Airline flight from Vienna, were diverted to Timișoara, in Romania. Meanwhile, until the runway lights that were damaged in the accident get replaced, the airport had to downgrade its instrument landing system, which allows aircraft to approach it at night or during bad weather, from a level 3 to a level 1.
