At least 41 people were killed as a result of a fiery crash landing of a Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ100) passenger plane at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport Sunday evening.
Speaking to reporters early Monday, Elena Markovskaya, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said that 41 people died in the accident and 37 people survived.
Two teenagers and at least one member of the crew were among the dead, the Investigative Committee said. One American also may have died.
The SSJ100 operated by national airline Aeroflot had 73 passengers and five crew members on board when it made a hard emergency landing. Video on Russian television showed fire bursting from the plane’s underside as it touched down.
The Russian news agency Interfax reports that the plane may have been struck by lightning, necessitating its return to the airport. Interfax says the landing caused one landing gear unit to break, sending debris into a wing fuel tank and sparking the blaze.
Russian Emergency Ministry said it does not plan to ground other SSJ100 planes following the Sunday’s crash.
The plane departed Moscow airport at 18:03 local time (11:03 EDT) for the northern city of Murmansk. Shortly after takeoff, the crew sent a distress signal to air traffic control, saying the plane had some technical issues and required the emergency landing.
Passengers were evacuated through emergency slides. People waiting inside the terminal were able to see the emergency landing and ensuing fire.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident, although the reason for the crash is not yet known.
Sheremetyevo Airport was closed for a short period of time and inbound flights were forced into holding patterns and some diverted to other Moscow airports.
The plane’s manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, said the aircraft had received maintenance at the beginning of April. Aeroflot said the pilot had some 1,400 hours of flying experience with SSJ100.
The Sunday’s incident was the second fatal crash for the Sukhoi Superjet. In 2012, an SSJ100, on a demonstration flight in Indonesia, crashed into a mountain, killing all 45 aboard.
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