MOSCOW—At least 13 people on board a Russian Aeroflot passenger plane were killed on Sunday when the plane caught fire mid-air and made an emergency landing at a Moscow airport on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported.
Television footage showed the Sukhoi Superjet-100 making an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport with much of the rear part of the plane engulfed in flames.
Many passengers then escaped via the plane’s emergency slides that inflated after the hard landing.
Medical workers told the TASS news agency at least 13 people had been killed and that others remained unaccounted for.
Russian news agencies said the plane, which had been flying from Moscow to the northern Russian city of Murmansk before turning back, had been carrying 78 passengers. It was unclear how many crew had been on board.
Russian investigators said they had opened an investigation and were looking into whether the pilots had breached air safety rules.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Aeroflot Flight SU1492 returned to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, making an emergency landing, news agency Interfax reported.
Interfax news agency reported that the tail was completely burned and said a rescue team was trying to find survivors in that part of the plane.
1 person died & 4 were injured in the fiery emergency landing of the Aeroflot Superjet 100 in Moscow, according to the 1st official statement on casualties. @tass_agency says the crew confirmed the plane was hit by lightning after takeoff https://t.co/zg8d93xtbz pic.twitter.com/vQwCyDqhTj
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 5, 2019
The plane was a one-year-old Sukhoi Superjet and requested an emergency landing shortly after take-off, due to the fire, according to Russian state media.
The plane had registration number RA-89098. Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes.
TV footage showed the plane landing with its tail ablaze. On the ground, black smoke billowed from the plane.
Videos circulating on social media show the plane engulfed in flames on the tarmac and people evacuating through emergency slides.
#BREAKING: Russian airline Aeroflot plane makes an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after fire on board pic.twitter.com/Ro6m8iO09B
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 5, 2019
Reports claiming from 1 to 12 people killed on the Aeroflot Superjet that made a fiery emergency landing in Moscow, but @meduzaproject says a criminal case has been opened under article 263.3–safety violations leading to the death of *two or more* people https://t.co/ySVAWQkycp pic.twitter.com/TR7Rrviojc
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) May 5, 2019
Aeroflot, the unofficial national airline of Russia, confirmed that the fire occurred but hasn’t said exactly how many people were injured.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
