At least 40 dead as Russian plane catches fire in emergency landing
At least 40 people died when an Aeroflot airliner burst into flames while making an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, officials said.
The Sukhoi SSJ100 operated by national airline Aeroflot had 73 passengers and five crew members on board when it touched down and sped down a runway spewing huge flames and black smoke.
Elena Markovskaya, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said early on Monday that 41 people were killed. But Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said later that 38 survived, implying the death toll was 40.
The Aeroflot Airlines plane on fire during an emergency landing (@artempetrovich/AP)
The victims included one member of the crew and at least two teenagers, according to the Investigative Committee.
Video showed desperate passengers leaping out of the plane onto inflatable evacuation slides and staggering across the airport’s tarmac and grass, some holding luggage.
The airport said in a statement that the plane, which had taken off from Sheremetyevo Airport for the northern city of Murmansk, turned back for unspecified technical reasons and made a hard landing that started the fire.
Video broadcast later on Russian television showed flames bursting from the jet’s underside as it lands and then bounces.
The plane apparently did not have time to jettison fuel before the emergency landing, news reports said.
A Russian Investigative Committee van travels to Sheremetyevo airport (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
The SSJ100, also known as the Superjet, is a two-engine regional jet put into service in 2011 with considerable fanfare as a signal that Russia’s troubled aerospace industry was on the rise.
However, the plane’s reputation was troubled after defects were found in some horizontal stabilisers.
The plane’s manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, said the plane in Sunday’s accident had received maintenance at the beginning of April. Aeroflot said the pilot had some 1,400 hours of experience flying the plane.
The plane is largely used in Russia as a replacement for outdated Soviet-era aircraft, but also has been used by airlines in other countries, including Armenia and Mexico.
This is the second fatal accident involving a SSJ100. In 2012, a demonstration flight in Indonesia struck a mountain, killing all 45 on board.
Horrific plane fireball kills 41 including at least two children as Russian Sukhoi Superjet with 78 on board crash lands and explodes in Moscow
- Passengers were seen fleeing from the Sukhoi Superjet at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia, Sunday
- The plane made an emergency landing after a fire on board soon after takeoff to the Arctic city of Murmansk
- Flames were seen from the rear of the Russian national carrier Aeroflot aircraft with a reported 78 on board
- Two children among those confirmed dead following the inferno, the Russian Investigative Committee said
- An airport official said ‘many passengers delayed emergency evacuation as they picked up hand luggage'
Forty-one people are believed to have died after a Russian passenger plane made an emergency landing at Moscow's busiest airport and caught fire, investigators said on Sunday.
'There were 78 people including crew members on board the plane,' the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
'According to the updated info which the investigation has as of now, 37 people survived.'
Two children are among those confirmed dead following the inferno on the Sukhoi Superjet at Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday, the Russian Investigative Committee said.
Terrified passengers were seen fleeing the Russian national carrier Aeroflot plane as flames flared from the rear of the aircraft with 78 on board.
Shocking footage from on board the Russian-built plane as it landed captured horrific flames engulfing the windows and the screams of passengers as they were gripped by panic.
Yet an airport official said that ‘many passengers delayed emergency evacuation - because against all instructions - they were picking up hand luggage from overhead compartments.’
The aircraft made two attempts to crash land soon after take-off from Russia's capital to the Arctic city of Murmansk.
Initial indications suggest an electrical fault might have caused the fire while the plane was in the air.
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Thirteen people were killed when a Russian plane (pictured) exploded into flames mid-air as it made an emergency landing
Smoke and flames can be seen bursting from the aircraft in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday. The cause of the fire remains unclear
Terrified passengers scrambled to evacuate the aircraft at Moscow's main international airport after the fire took hold
The SSJ-100 aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines on fire during an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia
One passenger said: ‘I was sitting in front of the engine, and saw how everything melted.
‘Somehow I managed to reach the exit, inhaling carbon monoxide. The flight attendants said: “Come on, quickly, crawl, a little bit left until the exit. As a result, I managed to jump off the plane.’
Aeroflot said the passenger plane was forced to turn back after takeoff because of technical problems.
In a brief statement on Sunday, it said the engines of the Sukhoi SSJ100 were burning after the aircraft landed, but the sequence of events before and after the fire started was not clear.
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Some Russian news reports cited sources as saying the plane headed back to the airport after a fire was detected in flight. Others said the plane made a hard landing that could have caused the engines to catch fire.
A spokeswoman for the crash investigation team, Svetlana Petrenko, said: 'For the moment, we confirm the death of 13 people, two of them children.'
Another 11 people were injured, said Dmitry Matveyev, the Moscow region's health minister. Three of them had been hospitalised but they were not in a serious condition, he added.
A flight attendant who attempted to rescue some of the 73 passengers from the blaze was said to be among the dead. He was named locally as Maxim Moiseev. There were five crew members on board.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft of Airflot Airlines is seen after an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow
A tower of smoke sits above the Russian-made aircraft as it exploded into flames on Sunday evening in the country's capital
The Russian plane exploded in a fireball as it made an emergency landing at Moscow's main international airport today
Footage showed a column of smoke towering over the plane. Other images showed the aircraft on fire as it attempted to land, then distraught passengers leaving by a forward door
The stricken plane was clearly visible from the main terminals at the airport in the north of Moscow on Sunday eveningInterfax agency reported that the plane, a Russian-made Superjet-100, had just taken off from Sheremetyevo airport on a domestic route when the crew issued a distress signal.
‘It attempted an emergency landing but did not succeed the first time, and on the second time the landing gear hit (the ground), then the nose did, and it caught fire,’ a source said.
It reported that the tail was completely burned and said a rescue team was trying to find survivors in that part of the plane.
Ambulances were sent to the scene of the landing and the passengers were evacuated, with the airport now closed for arrivals and departures.
Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes
Three flight attendants were believed to be on board the aircraft during the inferno, including Tatiana Kasatkina, Maxim Moiseev, and Ksenia Vogel (pictured)
A British Airways plane could be seen on the tarmac and the airport is closed for arrivals and departures
Flames were seen flaring from the rear of the Russian-built aircraft with 78 on board. It was carrying 73 passengers and five crew membersHowever, there were local reports of emergency services being refused access to the scene with paramedics held at checkpoints for up to seven minutes.
The airline said the number of victims was 'being specified' and that emergency medical care was being provided to the injured.
Footage showed a column of smoke towering over the plane. Other images showed the aircraft on fire as it attempted to land, then distraught passengers leaving by a forward door.
Video captured passengers leaping from the plane onto an inflatable slide from the front of the aircraft and staggering across tarmac and grass of the airport.
The stricken plane was clearly visible from the main terminals at the airport in the north of Moscow and a British Airways plane could be seen on the tarmac alongside it.
A passenger called mikkentosh posted on social media: 'Guys I am all right, I am alive and in one piece.
The crash landing was on the aircraft's second approach for an emergency landing. The plane had registration number RA-89098
The remains of the Russian-made Superjet-100 at the landing strip of Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow following the fire
An emergency service car is parked at the entrance of Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday evening
Aircraft crew members leave the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. Several flights have been diverted to other Moscow airports or Nizhny Novgorod, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the Russian capital
'I managed to jump out. This was the 17.50 Moscow to Murmansk flight. Definitely not everyone managed to escape, huge condolences to families and friends.'
The Sukhoi Superjet-100 was the first civilian aircraft developed in Russia's post-Soviet era and at the time of its launch, in 2011, was a source of national pride.
But it struggled to convince buyers from airlines outside Russia, and several foreign airlines that did buy it have since prefered to cut back its use or phase it out completely, citing its reliability.
The Russian government offered subsidies to encourage Russian airlines to buy the Superjet and Russian airline Aeroflot became its main operator. In September 2018, it announced a record order of 100 Superjet-100s.
Criminal investigators are examining the cause of the crash amid reports that an electrical fault had caused the inferno after take-off.
Ambulances are parked in front of the terminal building of the Sheremetyevo Airport outside Moscow after a Russian-made Superjet-100 on fire attempted an emergency landing
Emergency service cars are parked at the entrance of Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday evening
Other local reports suggest the plane had suffered 'communications problems' and the fire engulfed the Sukhoi as it returned to Moscow to land. There were also suggests that the plane had been hit by lightning, although there was no official confirmation.
The tabloid newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda quoted one passenger, Petr Egorov, who said: 'We had just taken off and the aircraft was hit by lightning.... The landing was rough, I almost passed out from fear.'
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also ordered a special committee to investigate the disaster, Ria Novosti agency reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russian Vladimir Putin had offered his condolences to the victims' loved ones.
Several flights have been diverted to other Moscow airports or Nizhny Novgorod, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the Russian capital.
The plane had registration number RA-89098. Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes.
Criminal investigators are examining the cause of the crash amid reports that an electrical fault had caused the inferno after take-off
The Sukhoi SSJ100 aircraft of Aeroflot airlines was covered in fire retardant foam
In this photo taken on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, the Sukhoi SSJ-100 aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines that made an emergency landing on Sunday, May 5, 2019 in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, takes off from the Siberian city of Tyumen, Russia
People wait at Sheremetyevo International Airport for news about passengers aboard the aircraft
The Sukhoi SSJ100 aircraft, pictured centre, after making an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow
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