Remains of the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet-100 being removed from the runway at the Sheremetyevo International Airport. Photo / Sergei Fadeichev, Getty Images
Remains of the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet-100 being removed from the runway at the Sheremetyevo International Airport. Photo / Sergei Fadeichev, Getty Images
Russian airport officials have been caught on camera laughing and making sick jokes while filming a burning passenger jet on the runway, in a video that went viral after being posted to Twitter.
The video shows a group of people laughing as they watch the plane burning on the runway in Moscow, cracking jokes about the landing and the possibility of the people on board being injured.
As the group stands watching the crash on a monitor, one person can be seen filming the tragedy on their phone as they discuss the incident.
The video emerged of Sheremetyevo airport ground workers, laughing and taking pictures of the burning plane. Photo / Twitter
A translation of the disturbing conversation by The Mirror identifies three people talking and erupting with laughter as they discuss the passenger's injuries.
Sheremetyevo airport management said in a statement the officials belonged neither to the airport company — called AO MASH — nor to Aeroflot, according to the BBC.
The statement went on to say that those depicted laughing and making jokes in the clip had breached professional ethics, and deserved to be punished.
According to The Mirror, the officials laughing at the trapped passengers were a ground team from Sheremetyevo airport.
The Russian plane burst into flames while making an emergency landing, and was struck by lightning before it landed, according to the pilot and surviving passengers.
The lightning strike happened soon after the flight's takeoff, according to those on board.
One passenger, Petr Egorov, said that the Aeroflot jet "had just taken off and the aircraft was hit by lightning."
The plane was engulfed by planes on landing at the Moscow airport. Photo / AP
"The landing was rough," he added of the dangerous and explosive descent into Sheremetyevo International Airport on Sunday. "I almost passed out from fear."
The plane's pilot, Denis Yevdokimov, said the aircraft lost communication and needed to switch to emergency control mode "because of lightning," but stopped short of saying the plane was struck directly.
The plane burst into flames as it landed, and 41 passengers were tragically killed in the accident.
Investigators from Russia are now looking into whether pilot error was a possible cause of the crash.
A high speed landing of a fuel plane is not standard following a lightning strike, according to the BBC. Standard practice is to circle for some time over the airport to burn up excess fuel in the plane's tank.
As the plane landed, it became engulfed by a large fireball.
At this stage there is no sign of a design fault in the Superjet 100s and the Russian transport ministry has decided against grounding the planes.
