RUSSIA’S flagship Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane has crashed in Moscow reportedly killing three pilots.
Russia’s emergency ministry said the plane had crashed near the city of Kolomna.
ReutersRussia’s flagship Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane has crashed in Moscow[/caption]
Thick plumes of smoke filled the sky after the crashEast2West
Three have been killed on boardEast2West
The pilot issued a distress call and the aircraft circled to burn fuel ahead of an intended emergency landing.
He is believed to have diverted the aircraft away from built up areas and crashed in a forest.
The Russian-made jet was flying from its base at the Lukhovitsy Aviation Plant to Vnukovo Airport when it disappeared from radars around 3pm local time, The Moscow Times reports.
It reportedly crashed near the village of Apraksino – around 12 miles from its take-off.
The reason for the crew’s mayday signal was not immediately disclosed.
Another anonymous source told RIA Novosti that the aircraft burst into flames as soon as it crash-landed in the woods.
No other casualties apart from the three pilots onboard have been reported.
It’s claimed the dead crew have been named as Yevgeniy Bulavko, the captain, and Maxim Lukmanov, co-pilot, and Vladislav Kharlamov, flight attendant.
The cause of the crash was not clear.
Russian emergency services told TASS: “The plane belongs to Gazprom. It was undergoing scheduled maintenance.
“A test flight was conducted today. There was only a crew of three on board.”
A video posted on Telegram appears to show the aftermath of the crash.
Thick black smoke was seen billowing up in the sky from the reported crash site.
Superjets are widely used in Russia but have reportedly become vulnerable due to sanctions preventing the supply of Western parts.
President Putin is looking to expand use of a new Superjet based only on Russian-made parts.
But he doesn’t use the planes himself.
There have been numerous safety incidents throughout the Ukraine war where Western sanctions have been imposed.
Five years ago, 41 of 78 people were killed after a Sukhoi Superjet 100 was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
Just 20 minutes into the two-and-a-half hour flight, an emergency radio failure was declared prompting the captain to request urgent clearance to return to land.
Pilot Denis Yevdokimov told Russian media the lightning had interrupted communication with air traffic controllers and forced him to switch to emergency mode.
The plane then circled around Moscow twice before it coming in to land, in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to burn fuel.
A dramatic video of the tragedy showed the plane making a terrifying bumpy landing, bursting into flames after bouncing along the tarmac.
XThe cause of the crash was not clear[/caption]
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