A Russian-made Aeroflot plane made a hard emergency landing in Moscow on Sunday before bursting into flames, killing 41 of the 78 people on board.
Video footage showed the as the jet bounced several times on the runway before its rear portion was engulfed by flames. passengers escaping on the plane's emergency inflated slides as firetrucks raced to the scene.
袙懈写械芯 褋褍锌械褉 写卸械褌邪 胁 楔械褉械屑械褌褜械胁芯
— 小芯褞蟹锌褍褕薪懈薪邪 (@letokot)
The plane, a Sukhoi Superjet 100, had departed Moscow on Sunday evening, bound for Murmansk in northwest Russia. flight tracking service Flightradar24, Aeroflot Flight 1492 indicated a radio communications failure and then a general emergency before its disastrous landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport about a half-hour after takeoff.
It's not yet clear why the plane turned back to Moscow, though storms were in the area and passengers said the plane was struck by lightning. Aeroflot the flight was forced to return for "technical reasons." The plane's two flight data recorders have been recovered, the Russian state news service Tass .
Among the victims of the crash were , and named Maksim Moiseev who died while trying to help passengers escape the plane, according to Tass.
Investigators are looking into possible causes for the accident, including pilot error, inclement weather and equipment failure, according to Russian media cited by The Associated Press. The Kremlin has also opened a criminal investigation, Charles Maynes reports for NPR from Moscow.
Aeroflot published of the flight's survivors, including five who were hospitalized. "The crew did everything in its power to save passenger lives and provide emergency assistance to those involved," the Russian airline said in Monday. "Our thoughts and hearts are with those who have suffered an unspeakable loss. We mourn with you."
A Sukhoi Superjet 100 on a demonstration flight of the plane, killing all 45 on board.
Aeroflot says it has been operating the Superjet 100 regional jets since 2011 and counts 50 of the planes , with plans to buy 100 more. Reuters reports that the Russian government has pushed Aeroflot to buy more of the Superjets for domestic flights, as a way to support Russia's aircraft industry.
Tass reports that the Superjet 100 is already "considered to be a problematic aircraft because of frequent engine-related malfunctions and a long spare part delivery time."
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