Glider accident at children’s aviation event leaves 12-year-old seriously injured
Tuesday 29th September 2026 on 17:15 in
Lithuania
A 12-year-old girl was seriously injured when a metal tube struck her at a children’s aviation championship in Kėdainiai district on August 12. LRT, citing the news outlet Rinkos aikštė, reported that she was treated in intensive care and that the incident became public only weeks later.
The accident happened at the Children’s Aviation Aerodrome in Koliupė village, where the Lithuanian children’s aviation sports championship was being held. The event was organised by the Airtech division of the Lithuanian Agency of Non-Formal Education.
The girl, from Utena County, was watching the flights with her family from a rest area. She was not competing, having attended an aviation club for only a year. According to sources quoted anonymously by Lrytas, a boy taking part in the championship lost control of a glider. Its wing struck a structural tube, which flew into the girl’s abdomen.
The sources said the girl suffered three broken ribs, severe damage to her spleen and a ruptured kidney. She was taken to hospital and survived.
Kaunas County police said the incident was not included in their August 12 summary because they initially began clarifying the circumstances and opened a pre-trial investigation later. Police confirmed receiving a report at about 9 a.m. that a metal tube had fallen on a minor in Koliupė village and that she had been taken to a medical facility.
The investigation is being conducted under Article 137, paragraph 1 of Lithuania’s Criminal Code, concerning serious health impairment caused by negligence. No one has been charged. Prosecutors say they are collecting and assessing evidence, interviewing witnesses and awaiting medical and technical expert reports. They will decide whether there are grounds to bring charges after the necessary investigative steps are completed.
The investigation is overseen by the Kėdainiai prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Tomas Šiulys told Lrytas that many witnesses had yet to be interviewed.