An Aeroflot passenger aircraft caught fire while crash-landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, after an onboard emergency. Forty-one people have died in the tragedy. RT recaps how the tragic events unfolded.
- The aircraft involved in the incident was built in 2017
- The plane underwent its most recent maintenance in April.
- Aeroflot flight SU1492 took off from the Sheremetyevo airport on schedule at 17:50 local time (14:50 GMT).
- The flight was bound for the northern Russian city of Murmansk.
- The aircraft had 78 people on board, 73 passengers and five crew members.
- The plane was in the air for some 28 minutes when there was an emergency alert.
- The pilots alerted the airport about their decision to turn back and land and then lost radio contact with air traffic control.
- The jet managed to land at the second attempt around 18:30 local time (15:30 GMT).
- The aircraft bounced off the runway and hit the ground hard; the tail of the plane burst into flames.
- While already on the runway, the plane made a sudden sharp turn and came to a stop not far from other planes waiting for takeoff.
- Firefighters arrived at the crash scene in about two minutes.
- People were leaving the plane through emergency exits in its forward section, as the tail was burning. The evacuation took 55 seconds.
- The fire was extinguished within an hour.
- Forty passengers and a crew member died in the tragedy.
- Several people were hospitalized with smoke inhalation injuries and burns. Three were admitted to intensive care upon arriving in hospitals.
- An investigation led by the minister of transport has been launched.