RUNWAY FIREBALL HORROR
41 feared dead in jet crash-landing
UP to 41 people were feared dead yesterday after a passenger jet exploded in a fireball while making an emergency landing.
Officials blamed the high death toll, which included at least two children, on passengers who delayed the evacuation by stopping to grab their bags from overhead lockers.
The Russian Sukhoi Superjet100 sent a distress signal soon after take- off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport before landing engulfed in flames. Footage showed the plane trailing a plume of fire and black smoke hundreds of yards long as it crash-landed on the runway.
An airport source said: ‘ It attempted an emergency landing but did not succeed the first time, and on the second time the landing gear hit, then the nose did, and it caught fire.’
The 5.50pm flight to the Arctic city of Murmansk had 78 passengers and crew. Investigators said only 37 had been accounted for.
Footage showed passengers escaping down emergency slides at the front of the Aeroflot jet, which first flew in June 2017.
A witness said: ‘It is a miracle anyone survived.’ An airport official said: ‘ Many passengers delayed emergency evacuation because against instructions they were picking up hand luggage from overhead compartments.’
Passenger Mikhail Savchenko posted on Instagram: ‘I managed to jump out. Definitely not everyone managed to escape.’
Reports suggest an electrical fault might have caused the fire.
Witness Vera kochneva said fire crews took five minutes to arrive, adding: ‘ Why did emergency services not get equipment in time knowing the plane is landing on fire?’
There were also reports of ambulances being kept at security barriers for seven minutes.