The Plane Was Burning at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport

People were leaving the plane on the move.

A passenger plane caught fire at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport as a result of a hard landing.

What happened

Superjet 100-95 passenger aircraft was to perform flight SU 1492 Moscow-Murmansk.

This is a joint flight of Aeroflot and KLM.

According to the online board of Sheremetyevo airport the plane took off at 18:02 (Moscow time).

Soon after take-off, the plane requested an emergency landing. The liner returned to the airport at 18:30, according to FlightRadar.

There were 73 passengers and five crew members on board. The evacuation was carried out using inflatable ladders. The Investigative Committee of Russia informed about 13 victims in Sheremetyevo.

The fire was stifled.

Sheremetyevo Airport redirects arriving aircraft to Domodedovo Airport, Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg. According to RBK in Domodedovo, "the airport has used additional resources to serve flights, taking into account the incident at Sheremetyevo airport.

The website of Murmansk airport says that the arrival of the aircraft performing flight SU-1492 "is delayed up to approximately 22 hours and 25 minutes due to the late departure from Sheremetyevo airport.

Sheremetyevo airport operates under in a limited manner.

According to Russianplanes, SukhoiSuperjet RA-89098 was produced in 2017 and performed its first flight two years ago - June 21, 2017. On the day of the catastrophe, May 5, the plane managed to perform three flights: from Saransk to Sheremetyevo (the flight duration - 1 hour 35 minutes, landed at the scheduled time at 07.45 am), from Sheremetyevo to Saratov (1 hour 45 minutes, landed at 12.30) and from Saratov back to Sheremetyevo (landed at 14.05).

Reasons

Rosaviatsia source told RBK that after take-off the pilot announced problems with communication and requested to return to Sheremetyevo. Due to severe weather conditions, the plane failed to land on the first try, it landed on the second try. "After touching the ground gear legs broke, engines fire started. The fire started followed by emergency evacuation," the source informs.

Aeroflot confirmed information about the engines fire after landing.

According to Ren-TV, the fire started in the air.

TASS reported, citing an emergency source, that a lightning strike caused the fire; thus, the automatic system failed. "According to preliminary data, the plane hit the runway twice during landing. A lightning strike was also confirmed by one of the crew members," the source said.

According to Interfax, the fire started after a failed first landing try. The second try, the sources told the agency, resulted in the plane to hit the runway and engulfed in fire.

RIA-Novosti reported citing a source that a malfunction in the electrical wiring caused fire.

The Investigative Committee officers arrived at the scene. A criminal case is initiated.