"Experts from three countries have already arrived to examine the wreckage of the plane together with our Lithuanian experts," Head of the NKVC Vilmantas Vitkauskas told reporters in the Seimas on Wednesday, following the parliamentary security committee’s sitting.
The aircraft’s wreckage will be moved to a hangar, he said, for examination and comparison with the data retrieved from the flight recorders.
"Today the [black] boxes will have to be transported to a specialised laboratory and will likely be sent to a European country for analysis," said Vitkauskas, adding that the commission is yet to make a final decision.
Analysis of data retrieved from the black boxes could take a month, he said.
"The current version is that the crash was most likely due to a technical fault," Vitkauskas said. There is no need for reclassification of the investigation so far, he added.
A Boeing 737 flying from the eastern German city of Leipzig crashed at 5.28 a.m. on Monday about one kilometre away from Vilnius Airport, hitting part of a residential house No 5 on Žirnių Street. A 48-year-old Spanish pilot was killed, three crew members – another Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian – were injured. One of them was in critical condition.
The 13 residents of the two-storey house were not harmed. They were accommodated in hotels after evacuation.
The plane belonged to Spanish airline Swiftair and was contracted by German logistics firm DHL.
Prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation into improper maintenance or repair of vehicles or equipment and into violation of international flight rules. The Ministry of Justice has also opened an inquiry into the crash.