A Croatia Airlines Airbus A220-300, believed to be registered 9A-CAN, remains parked on the apron at Split Airport (LDSP) following a runway excursion that occurred at the Croatian coastal hub. The incident, documented incidentally by a plane spotter visiting the airport, resulted in the destruction of at least one runway-adjacent sign, which had not been replaced as of the time of the visit. The aircraft was visible from the airfield perimeter, positioned behind vegetation on the apron in what appears to be a long-term ground storage or repair-awaiting configuration, suggesting the airframe has been out of revenue service for a significant period.
For airline and charter operators, a runway excursion involving a modern narrowbody represents a high-profile safety event with cascading operational consequences. The A220-300 is a fly-by-wire, glass-cockpit aircraft with advanced ground spoilers and autobrake systems, making veer-off incidents particularly noteworthy from an accident investigation standpoint. Runway excursions remain one of the leading categories of serious incidents in commercial aviation globally, with contributing factors typically spanning runway surface conditions, crosswind components, brake system performance, and crew response to directional control deviations. The protracted grounding of 9A-CAN indicates that either the structural damage assessment, regulatory investigation process, or both are still ongoing — a timeline not unusual for events of this nature under EASA jurisdiction.
Croatia Airlines has been modernizing its fleet with A220-300 deliveries as a replacement for older Airbus A319s and ATR turboprops, making each airframe a meaningful percentage of the carrier's total capacity. An extended aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situation of this type strains a small national carrier's schedule reliability and may require wet-lease or ACMI arrangements to cover affected routes, particularly during the Adriatic summer high season when Split serves as a critical gateway for tourist traffic. The visual evidence of an unrepaired sign further suggests that airport infrastructure repairs at LDSP have also been pending, which may have implications for ground movement crews and follow-me vehicle operators navigating that portion of the airfield.
The broader significance for professional pilots operating into Split — a technically demanding airport with terrain on approach and variable Adriatic wind patterns including the notorious Bora — lies in the reminder that runway excursion risk is not confined to legacy equipment or low-visibility operations. LDSP handles a mix of commercial, charter, and business jet traffic across a relatively short primary runway, and its exposure to gusty crosswind conditions during weather system transitions is well documented in operator route manuals. Pilots conducting airfield familiarization for Split operations should treat any excursion event there as operationally instructive, regardless of the specific causal chain ultimately determined by investigators.