At 17.55 UTC, 2008-07-14 flight WWA832B from Vilnius (EYVI) to Amsterdam (EHAM) emergency landed in EHGG (Groningen Eelde) in Netherlands.
Captain Pranas Drulis and first officer Tommy Aldridge started the descent from FL320 and at about FL260 the plane depressurised. The captain immediatly declared emergency and started a very fast descent to 7000ft. Because of good pilots, the plane managed to descend before the oxygen runs out and the passengers could breathe again. The plane was directed to land on runway 27 in Schiphol. But the plane lost it's right engine and was very hard to control. The captain decided they must land immidiatly so the controller directed the plane to Groningen Eelde airport, where it landed successfully. But the runway was too short for the plane and it overshoot. Thank god there were no buildings and after braking the airports light systems the plane managed to stop. There were 172 passengers, 2 pilots and 6 flight attendants in the plane. Ten people were slightly injured and one woman died. Medical examiners think the cause of her death is a heart attack.
NTSB, who decided to help with the investigation, say that the cause of the depressurisation and the loss of an engine is absolutely unknown.
"At least the plane didn't crashed so we have everything in one piece. This will help for our investigation" said NTSB expert John Bonham.
The plane is a Boeing 767-300, which was bought 3 years ago. Untill now pilots didn't have any problems with it. After the emergency landing the plane is grounded for the investigation. Flight crew decided to take 2 weeks vacation. After the vacation both pilots will fly the 767s as they did before.
"After the vacation we will fly the 767s as we did before" said captain Pranas Drulis.
"After the vacation we will fly the 767s as we did before" said first officer Tommy Aldridge.
This photo was taken seconds after the landing by a teenager pilot. He has a fine for flying without Pilot licence and instructor.
P.S. If there are mistakes, sorry. The reporter overslept all english lessons.
Pranas Drulis
WWA2097
Cat 4
FS9 + Level D 767
Assistant Hub Manager Amsterdam