An Aeroflot Sukhoi Superject-100 with 78 passengers on board caught fire after taking off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport a 17:15 local time, Sunday, en route for the city of Murmansk. According to the Interfax news agency, the flight crew issued a distress signal shortly after take-off, but the plane apparently failed with its first attempted emergency landing.
When the plane eventually touched down 30 minutes after take-off the rear section was engulfed in flames according to Reuters, while passengers evacuated the plane via emergency slides that were immediately deployed after a hard landing. The current death toll stands at 41, with other passengers reported injured.
