At least 40 people died when an Aeroflot airliner burst into flames while making an emergency landing at MoscowB次元官网网址檚 Sheremetyevo airport Sunday evening, officials said.
The Sukhoi SSJ100 operated by national airline Aeroflot had 73 passengers and five crew members on board when it touched down and sped down a runway spewing huge flames and black smoke.
Elena Markovskaya, a spokeswoman for RussiaB次元官网网址檚 Investigative Committee, said early Monday that 41 people were killed. But Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said later that 38 survived, implying the death toll was 40.
The victims included one member of the crew and at least two teenagers, according to the Investigative Committee.
B次元官网网址 showed desperate passengers leaping out of the plane onto inflatable evacuation slides and staggering across the airportB次元官网网址檚 tarmac and grass, some holding luggage.
The airport said in a statement that the plane, which had taken off from Sheremetyevo Airport for the northern city of Murmansk, turned back for unspecified technical reasons and made a hard landing that started the fire.
B次元官网网址 broadcast later on Russian television showed flames bursting from the jetlinerB次元官网网址檚 underside as it lands and then bounces. The plane apparently did not have time to jettison fuel before the emergency landing, news reports said.
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The SSJ100, also known as the Superjet, is a two-engine regional jet put into service in 2011 with considerable fanfare as a signal that RussiaB次元官网网址檚 troubled aerospace industry was on the rise.
However, the planeB次元官网网址檚 reputation was troubled after defects were found in some horizontal stabilizers.
The planeB次元官网网址檚 manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, said the plane in SundayB次元官网网址檚 accident had received maintenance at the beginning of April. Aeroflot said the pilot had some 1,400 hours of experience flying the plane.
The plane is largely used in Russia as a replacement for outdated Soviet-era aircraft, but also has been used by airlines in other countries, including Armenia and Mexico.
This is the second fatal accident involving a SSJ100. In 2012, a demonstration flight in Indonesia struck a mountain, killing all 45 aboard.
Jim Heintz, The Associated Press
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