At least 40 passengers and one crew member have died after a Russian passenger jet burst into flames during an emergency landing in Moscow.
Footage posted on social media shows Aeroflot Flight 1492 touching down at Sheremetyevo airport around 6pm local time.
Flames could be seen bursting from the rear of the Sukhoi Superjet-100, leaving a huge trail of smoke.
Images show some of the flight’s 78 occupants using emergency slides to depart the stationary plane as it burned on the runway.
Citing Russian news agency Interfax, the New York Times states pilots issued a distress call shortly after takeoff.
Instead of heading to their destination of Murmansk, some 1,800km north of Moscow, the plane circled back to the airport. The plane landed on its second attempt.
Aeroflot states the flight had experienced “technical issues,” BBC reports, but did not expand on the cause of those issues.
An investigation is reportedly underway.
