Moscow: A passenger jet crashed in heavy fog and burst into flames late Monday on a highway in north-western Russia, just short of a runway whose fog lights had failed, killing 44 people, officials said. Eight people survived the crash.
The Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, an emergencies ministry spokeswoman, Oksana Semyonova said.
Her ministry said in a website statement confirmed that 44 people were killed. Eight survivors, including a 10-year-old boy and a female flight attendant, were hospitalised in critical condition in Petrozavodsk.
Semyonova said the plane went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing about a mile short of the runway before breaking apart and bursting into flames. It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, she said.
Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 400 miles (640 kilometres) north-west of Moscow.
Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were “unfavourable weather conditions.”
Compounding the pilot’s troubles was the failure of the runway’s high-intensity illumination, which is supposed to be deployed at times of low visibility, deputy head of the Interstate Aviation Committee Alexei Morozov said.
A RusAir representative who declined to give his name informed that the plane was in good working order and that the weather conditions, although tricky, “weren’t critical”.
The Tupolev 134, along with its larger sibling the Tu-154, has been the workhorse of Soviet and Russian civil aviation since the 1960s. The model that crashed was built in 1980, had a 68-person capacity and a range of about 1,240 miles.
The plane was carrying 52 people, including nine crew members, Semyonova said. Russian news agencies said Russian Premier League soccer referee Vladimir Pettay and a Swedish citizen were among the victims.
The Karelia branch of the emergencies ministry said radio contact with the pilot was lost at 11:40pm local time (19.40 GMT). The black box flight data recorders have been recovered, the news agencies said.
The accident occurred on the eve of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s planned appearance at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday to support dozens of Russian firms seeking sales contracts.
Dear TNT Reader,
At The News Tribe, our mission is to bring you free, independent, and unbiased news and content that keeps you informed and empowered. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism, as we understand that we are a platform for truth.
Apart from independent global news coverage, we also commit our unique focus on the Muslim world. In an age marked by the troubling rise of Islamophobia and widespread misrepresentation of Muslims in Western media, we strive to provide accurate and fair coverage.
But to continue doing so, we need your support. Even a small donation of 1$ can make a big difference. Your contribution will help us maintain the quality of our news and counteract the negative narratives that are so prevalent.
Please consider donating today to ensure we can keep delivering the news that matters. Together, we can make a positive impact on the world, and work towards a more inclusive, informed global society.
Donate Monthly Subscription Annual Subscription