Russia probes pilot error after deadly plane blaze

MOSCOW: Russian investigators were considering pilot error as the cause of a crash-landing that saw a plane erupt in flames at Moscow’s busiest airport and kill 41 people, media reported.

The first fire engine arrived at the scene only two minutes after the plane landed and burst into flames, the airport said on Tuesday.

Russian television channel Ren TV posted what it said was the conversation between the pilots and air traffic control which showed that the pilot remained calm as he requested an emergency landing and did not assess the situation as critical.

The Sukhoi Superjet-100 had just flown out of Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday evening when it sent out an emergency signal and circled back, bouncing on the runway and catching fire.

Sources in the investigation told Kommersant newspaper the Aeroflot pilots made a number of errors including flying into a thunderstorm and landing with a full tank rather than circling to use up fuel.

Various sources told the business daily RBK the pilots opened a cockpit window, potentially fanning the flames, and failed to turn off engines immediately after landing.

Investigators are still examining the black boxes and have so far given no official reason for the crash.

Pilot Denis Yevdokimov told media the lightning strike shortly after take-off caused the aircraft to lose communication and forced the emergency landing.

In the comunications transcript with air traffic control, Yevdokimov said: “We request return (due to) loss of radio communications.”

He said that the plane had been hit by lightning.