Viral Video: France's Montpellier Airport Closes After Jet Crashes Into Lake

A plane overshot the runway and landed in a lake on Saturday, forcing the closure of a French airport for two and a half days. After the cargo plane veered off the runway while landing and ended up with its nose and engine in a nearby lake, French officials closed down the airport in the southern city of Montpellier.

The Boeing 737 aircraft, which belonged to West Atlantic, touched down in Montpellier early on Saturday. But as it touched down, it missed the runway and ended up in the lake.

Photos showing the plane near the lake's edge with its body perched on land and its nose plunged in water were put online by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).

⚠️ Accident du @BoeingFrance #737 immatriculé EC-NLS exploité par #WestAtlantic / sortie de piste pendant atterrissage survenue le 24/09/22 à l'aéroport de @mplaeroport / 4 enquêteurs @BEA_Aero sur place / ouverture d'une enquête de sécurité. pic.twitter.com/H76U3BbRxk

— BEA ✈️ ⚙️🔬🇫🇷 (@BEA_Aero) September 24, 2022

✈️ Les opérations pour lever le #Boeing737 de la compagnie #WestAtlantic se dérouleront cet après midi. Toutes les équipes sont mobilisées pour la réussite de cette opération inédite @MPLaeroport . Le préfet de l'#Herault s'est rendu sur site pour remercier l'ensemble des acteurs pic.twitter.com/oVK8Kh9xQI

— Préfet de l'Hérault 🇫🇷 (@Prefet34) September 25, 2022

The airport, which is around four miles from the French metropolis, received about sixty firefighters. An investigation is underway into the incident.

One of France's ten busiest airports, Montpellier, was closed for two and a half days to both passenger and cargo flights while the plane was being removed. In light of the accident, all flights to and from the airport were cancelled, rescheduled, or diverted to Marseille.

Twenty-one commercial flights had been scheduled on Saturday at the airport which in peak season sees up to 197,000 passengers a month.

"A technical incident prevents normal operation," said an English message on the airport's website headlined "closure of Montpellier airport". The website showed that flights had either been cancelled or diverted to Marseille.