Against instructions: Passengers were warned not to take luggage from the flight on which 41 died. Photo / Instagram, Mikkentosh
Against instructions: Passengers were warned not to take luggage from the flight on which 41 died. Photo / Instagram, Mikkentosh
Horrific video footage has captured the moment a Russian passenger plane exploded in a fireball during an emergency landing, reportedly killing 41 people.
The Russian Aeroflot plane caught fire mid-air and made an emergency landing at a Moscow airport, Russian news agencies report.
Television footage shows the Sukhoi Superjet-100 making an emergency landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport on Sunday (local time), with much of the rear part of the plane engulfed in flames.
Selfish actions: Evacuated passengers took carry on luggage, against instructions. Photo / Instagram, mikkentosh
Elena Markovskaya, a member of the country's Investigative Committee, confirmed the toll, stating two children were among the dead. There are also reports a US citizen is among the dead.
Thirty-seven people survived, Markovskaya told reporters at Sheremetyevo Airport. Five survivors are hospitalised, she said.
However, horrendous footage is now beginning to emerge on social media from inside the burning plane, and there are unconfirmed claims of people grabbing their bags from overhead compartments — leading to a delay in evacuating the aircraft.
According to reports, an airport official said that "many passengers delayed emergency evacuation - because against all instructions - they were picking up hand luggage from overhead compartments."
Safety announcements in planes regularly tell passengers not to take their baggage when evacuating aircraft.
41 people never got out of the #Moscow plane crash yet all i seen was people coming down with their bags from the plane ! Wonder how many more would of been saved if people didn’t stop for their luggage !
Looking at the footage of that #plane in #Moscow... why did some passengers take bags off? Who's to say that the death toll wasn't made higher because someone else was more bothered about their case than getting off the aircraft? FFS. Every time it's the same! Shocking.
Geoffrey Thomas, an Aviation writer and author of Airline Ratings, said it is "extremely likely" the death toll would have been lower had the plane been evacuated quicker.
"What is really concerning here is if you look at the vision you can see them carrying their bags ... and there's passengers inside taking videos," Mr Thomas told 7News.
"Clearly this is another situation where passengers getting their bags off, instead of just getting off the airplane, has tragically caused... people to lose their lives.
Superjet: At least 41 passengers died after the Aeroflot jet caught fire. Photo / AP
"It's just a real tragedy that this has happened, and it's been a problem industry has been looking at for some time, with passengers not obeying crew instructions to get off the airplane as quickly as possible."
According to CBS News, emergency vehicles arrived at the airport to assist passengers moving away from the plane and fight the flames, which were coming out of the aeroplane's rear section. However it is still unclear what caused the fire.
In one video, taken inside the aircraft recirculated on Twitter by Russian media, enormous flames can be seen through the passenger window as a chorus of loud screams ring out. In a statement shared by Aeroflot, the aircraft was evacuated in 55 seconds, "compared to the industry norm of 90 seconds".
The captain was the last to leave the burning aircraft.
Many passengers then escaped via the plane's emergency slides that inflated after the hard landing.
Earlier, medical workers told the TASS news agency at least 13 people had been killed and others remained unaccounted for, however that death toll has now increased to 41. The company has listed the names of survivors on their website.
Aeroflot, the unofficial national airline of Russia, said malfunctions on board the aircraft were detected shortly after takeoff. The crew was forced to request an emergency return to the airport. The engines caught fire after landing at Sheremetyevo where the fire was extinguished.
A correspondent for the Russian news website RT was on a nearby plane and saw the landing.
"We were sitting really close to the plane, which was completely on fire," Boris Kuznetsov told RT. "The flames were huge. It was very difficult for the emergency services to tackle the blaze."
Another witness by the name of Alena Osokina, told Russia's Dozhd television station she was a witnessed "flames devouring" the plane every second.
"We were witnesses to this horror," she said as a witness from inside Sheremetyevo airport's terminal.
"Right in front of our eyes, we saw an airplane on fire streaking down the runway," Ms. Osokina, who was in an airport restaurant, told Dozhd television.
"It was in the grips of flames," she said. "Flames were devouring it every second," she said.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered a special commission to investigate the incident and provide the victims with all necessary assistance.
"Investigators soon will begin interviewing victims, eyewitnesses, airport staff and the airline carrier, as well as other persons responsible for the operation of the aircraft," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.
JUST IN: Video shows horror inside burning passenger plane which made an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. The fire killed at least 13 people, including 2 children: pic.twitter.com/YE4h4B2EeC
The Sukhoi-Superjet 100 had left Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport at 5.50pm (10.50pm AEST) local time on Sunday, Russian news agencies said.
The one-year-old plane had been bound for the northern Russian city of Murmansk but crashed 27 minutes after takeoff.
The Russian jet was forced to turn around when an electrical fault reportedly sparked a fire on-board.
"Investigators soon will begin interviewing victims, eyewitnesses, airport staff and the airline carrier, as well as other persons responsible for the operation of the aircraft," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told reporters.
Aerflot say they will be flying relatives of passengers affected on flight SU1492 to Moscow without charge.
Flight Radar: Flight recorders show SU1492 return to Moscow shortly after takeoff. Photo / Flight Radar 24
The SSJ100, also known as the Superjet, is a two-engine regional jet put into service in 2011 with considerable fanfare as a signal Russia's troubled aerospace industry was on the rise.
However, the plane's reputation was troubled after defects were found in some horizontal stabilisers.
The plane's manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, said the plane in Sunday's accident had received maintenance at the beginning of April. Aeroflot said the pilot had some 1400 hours of experience flying the plane.
The plane is largely used in Russia as a replacement for outdated Soviet-era aircraft but also has been used by airlines in other countries, including Armenia and Mexico.
This is the second fatal accident involving the plane. In 2012, a demonstration flight in Indonesia struck a mountain, killing all 45 aboard.
Because of the accident Sheremetyevo Airport is currently only using 1 out of 2 runways. Some inbound flights are diverting to other airports and departing flights are delayed.
