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unreguser/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

Moscow plane tragedy: Pilot says aircraft was struck by lightning before crash landing that killed 41

There were 78 people including crew members on board the plane.

LAST UPDATE | 6 May 2019

THE PILOT OF a Russian passenger plane that erupted in a ball of fire on the runway of Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 41 people, has said lightning led to the emergency landing.

Investigators are currently working to understand the causes of the blaze after the Sukhoi Superjet-100 had to return to Sheremetyevo airport shortly after take-off yesterday evening.

Denis Yevdokimov, however, has told Russian media the craft lost communication and needed to switch to emergency control mode “because of lightning” on the Aeroflot flight to the Arctic city of Murmansk.

He did not specify if the plane was struck directly.

“We managed to restore communication through the emergency frequency on our radio connection. But the link was only for a short time and kept cutting out… it was possible to say only a few words,” he told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. 

41 people including at least two children died after the passenger plane erupted in a huge ball of fire after making its emergency landing at Moscow’s busiest airport.

Footage posted online showed the aircraft crash-landing and then speeding along the runway at Sheremetyevo international airport, flames pouring from its fuselage.

Passengers could be seen leaping onto an inflatable slide at the front and running from the blazing plane as huge black columns of smoke billowed into the sky.

“There were 78 people including crew members on board the plane,” which was bound for the northwestern city of Murmansk, an official statement from state investigators said. 

“According to the updated info which the investigation has as of now, 37 people survived.”

Eleven people were injured, Dmitry Matveyev, the Moscow region’s health minister had said earlier in the day.

‘Horror before our eyes’ 

Witness Alyona Osokina said she was inside the terminal when she suddenly saw a plane on fire rushing along the runway.

“The blaze was devouring the plane,” she told Rain TV.

Osokina said that fire engines had arrived quickly but could not immediately put out the blaze.

“This horror and tragedy happened before our eyes,” she said, adding that those who managed to flee the plane then walked towards the airport.

I believe they were in a state of deep shock.

The jet left Sheremetyevo at 6:02pm (4.02pm Irish time), and the crew issued a distress signal shortly afterwards, officials said.

“After the take-off, the crew reported an anomaly and decided to come back to the departure airport. At 6:30pm, the aircraft made an emergency landing,” the airport said in a statement.

Russia Plane Fire The wreckage photographed after the tragedy yesterday. AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

Aeroflot, Russia’s flagship carrier, said the plane had to return to the airport “due to a technical reason” and its engines caught fire upon landing. Previous reports had said the fire broke out in mid-air.

The jet reportedly managed to land on its second attempt, hitting the ground with its landing gear first and then its nose.

Flight tracking site Flightradar24 showed the jet looping once in the air before landing.

The plane’s fuel tanks were full and a much bigger death toll could have been a real possibility, aviation experts said.

Investigators said they were looking into various lines of inquiry and it was premature to draw any conclusions about the cause of the accident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the victims’ loved ones and said the investigation “should be as thorough as possible”, according to the Kremlin.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered a special committee to investigate the disaster.

The Murmansk region – where many of the casualties are believed to be from – will observe a three-day period of mourning beginning today. 

Some flights were diverted to other Moscow airports or Nizhny Novgorod, some 400 kilometres east of the Russian capital, last night. 

Numerous Aeroflot flights are expected to be affected in the coming days.

RUSSIA-MOSCOW-PLANE-FIRE Medics work at Sheremetyevo airport yesterday evening. Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

Blow to aviation industry 

The country’s aviation safety record has been chequered and the latest disaster is seen as a huge blow to its already struggling aviation industry.

The Sukhoi Superjet-100 was the first civilian aircraft developed in the country’s post-Soviet era.

At the time of its launch, in 2011, it was a source of national pride and seen as one of Putin’s pet projects.

But numerous technical problems with the plane have been reported in recent years and Russia has struggled to convince foreign carriers to purchase it.

The government offered subsidies to encourage Russian airlines to buy the Superjet and Aeroflot has became its main operator.

In September 2018, it announced a record order of 100 Superjet-100s.

© – AFP 2019

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    Mute Maj Coll
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    May 5th 2019, 6:40 PM

    Still no article about hospital protest in Ennis

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    Mute Adrian
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    May 5th 2019, 6:49 PM

    @Maj Coll: fair play for telling us. I’d say there’s a lot of anti gov stuff going on around the country that this shower of idiot politicians would prefer we never hear about. They’ll be on the tv soon enough telling us how great they are and the great reception they’re getting around the country, all pure lies of course.

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    Mute Doubtchya Boy!
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    May 5th 2019, 8:49 PM

    Reports that it was a lightning strike just after take off, fuel tank and tail caught fire, somewhow pilots managed to turn around and land while the aircraft was ablaze. 13 dead. Could have been alot worse. Sounds like some really good pilots!

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    May 6th 2019, 12:35 AM

    @Doubtchya Boy!: up to “at least 40″ now

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    Mute Ian
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    May 6th 2019, 7:33 AM

    @Doubtchya Boy!: that is incorrect. Have a look at this video. Plane is not on fire as it approaches to land and only after a heavy landing does it burst into flames https://twitter.com/TomPodolec/status/1125139668029333505?s=08

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    Mute Dr Richard DeWitt
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    May 6th 2019, 8:23 AM

    @Doubtchya Boy!: Those who stopped to take personal belongings out should be charged with manslaughter. People at the back of the plane were dying while idiots up front were getting their precious laptops.

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    May 6th 2019, 9:17 AM

    @Ian: looks like it moved up before the plane pivoted downwards again and appears to have hit the runway harder than normal. Under-carriage collapse causing sparks and flame?

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    Mute Suzanne Dorgan
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    May 6th 2019, 9:41 AM

    @Ian: There is footage on Twitter taken from inside the aircraft while on fire. Terrifying.

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    May 6th 2019, 11:52 AM

    @Doubtchya Boy!: You were almost right. According to the Journal headline it was a lighting (sic) strike. They must mean a match.

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    Mute Doubtchya Boy!
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    May 6th 2019, 12:22 PM

    @Ian: only seem that now, seems they had limited control decending and hense the rough landing that led to the fire. Be interesting to see what the report and black box finds. CityJet operated these aircraft until last year.

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    Mute Oleksandr Savitskyy
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    May 6th 2019, 7:51 AM

    There are some shoking images appeared on Russian internet sites with front seat passengers walking with their cabin luggage. As per one of Russian aviation experts those passengers are to be blamed for such a high death toll as they ignored crew orders and instead of evacuating immediately.

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    Mute Oleksandr Savitskyy
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    May 6th 2019, 8:41 AM

    @Oleksandr Savitskyy:..were taking their luggage.

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    Mute Derek
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    May 6th 2019, 1:02 PM

    @Oleksandr Savitskyy: the mind boggles

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    May 5th 2019, 8:59 PM

    The tweet that you showed… hmm, someone should ask for a translator at TheJournal. It says все живы, or everyone is alive. Definitely not the case. RIP to those who died.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    May 5th 2019, 6:39 PM

    Im not implying anything and the accident could be one of many things but The Superjet has a bit of a name for itself these days. Nasty looking accident :(

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    Mute Amanda Burns
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    May 5th 2019, 9:58 PM

    @Paul Furey: a nasty looking accident! People are dead

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    May 6th 2019, 12:05 AM

    @Amanda Burns: I guess you don’t know how this whole journal things works….do you? So I shall help you out. Online news media companies will update the same article through out the articles life. So people post in response to various stages of the articles update. There was no report of injuries when I posted my comment and the article has since been updated. So in future you really need to be very careful with your condescending condemnations without fully understanding what’s going on around you. No need to thank me. You wont make this mistake again.

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    May 6th 2019, 12:39 AM

    @Paul Furey: we should all be careful with our condescending condemnations…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    May 6th 2019, 12:44 AM

    @Squiddley Diddley: I wanted to say more….but I’m a nice guy really.

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    Mute Denis McClean
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    May 6th 2019, 1:55 AM

    @Paul Furey: Boeing 737 Max-8!!!

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    Mute Mike Rugby Nuts
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    May 6th 2019, 12:45 PM

    @Paul Furey: likewise, same for me on first report.

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    Mute John Tanner
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    May 5th 2019, 6:37 PM

    Some plug will blame Boeing

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    Mute SFNutters
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    May 5th 2019, 6:40 PM

    @John Tanner: well the ruskies probably copied the Boeing design.

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    Mute Stephen Duffy
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    May 5th 2019, 11:07 PM

    Death toll up to 43. Very sad..

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    Mute Tony Donoghue
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    May 5th 2019, 6:43 PM

    They’ve taken whale training too far now, theres just not enough room for them in the cockpit for Gods sake

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    May 6th 2019, 12:06 PM

    The firefighters were very slow, it should not be the case that it took them so long to get to that plane.

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    Mute Mike Rugby Nuts
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    May 5th 2019, 6:41 PM

    Glad everyone is out. Sound like control surfaces issues, hydraulics perhaps. No control to land correctly. 2nd time wing touches and tanks are fractured. Just a guess.

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    Mute davey boy
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    May 5th 2019, 6:56 PM

    @Mike Rugby Nuts: Thanks for that.

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    May 5th 2019, 8:09 PM

    @Mike Rugby Nuts: 13 people are dead so not everyone got out.

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    Mute Squiddley Diddley
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    May 5th 2019, 8:15 PM

    @Bee Johnson: He made that comment when they were only reporting injuries.

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    May 5th 2019, 9:57 PM

    @Squiddley Diddley: ah OK I did wonder

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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    May 5th 2019, 10:09 PM

    @Mike Rugby Nuts: Doesnt sound like any of those things.

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    Mute Yeera Yeahboy
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    May 6th 2019, 2:18 PM

    Article says plane ‘looped in the air’ – this should say circled.

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    Mute Ted J. Maguire
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    May 6th 2019, 5:20 AM

    I’m not going to comment here invade the Russians are monitoring this article.

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    Mute Ray Jakans
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    May 5th 2019, 8:48 PM

    о боже мой

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    Mute Tony Donoghue
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    May 5th 2019, 9:46 PM

    @Ray Jakans: well said

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    Mute Alhimself
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    May 6th 2019, 12:22 PM

    Saw security video, plane landed hard but lurched up again briefly, coming in nose down. I reckon a tail strike from compensating the nose down, that smashed and ignited the APU in the tail section causing serious fire that spread forward.

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    Mute Todd Unctuous
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    May 6th 2019, 4:33 PM

    @Alhimself: you’ve no clue what you’re talking about

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    Mute Alan Scott
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    May 6th 2019, 2:11 PM

    It probably was down to the crew that this many did get out alive

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    Mute Oliver Jumelle
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    May 6th 2019, 3:02 PM

    Main gear first before nosewheel? Yes that’s called flaring!

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    May 6th 2019, 10:53 AM

    Big flame was full fuel and didn’t dump down to small fuel left before emergency to land would be safe

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    Mute Bi88les
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    May 6th 2019, 11:56 AM

    @Brian Flavin: twonker

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    May 6th 2019, 12:03 PM

    @Bi88les: you no brain idiot

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    Mute Sega Yolo
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    May 6th 2019, 1:07 PM

    @Brian Flavin: I would presume this ac had fuel dump nozzles, but maybe that procedure requires more time available. They did indicate there were comm and control issues forcing the landing.

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    Mute damian
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    May 6th 2019, 6:10 PM

    @Brian Flavin: Not every aircraft model has fuel dumping facilities. Often has to be a request of the airline. It’s not standard. A lot have to circle to burn fuel before making a landing.

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    Mute Nigel Garvey
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    May 6th 2019, 9:04 PM

    People with their hand baggage leaving the plan ….. bet the crew where off first ….

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    Mute William Kelly
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    May 8th 2019, 6:57 AM

    Dreadful tragedy, & crew did their best.
    Am curious though to note that the plane had business class up front.
    Would have thought that Aeroflot operate in a classless state, where such class distinction is not enabled.
    Reminds me of a trivial incident in Cannes, when 2 Irish ladies where fined for inadvertently travelling in 1st class on a commuter train on a pleb. ticket.
    In The Republic of republics!

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