boscenter
DC-9 Evangelist
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Russian Plane Crash Kills 14
Sun Jul 28, 2:57 PM ET
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian Il-86 passenger jet dove and crashed into a forest just after taking off Sunday afternoon from Moscow, killing 14 people and spreading charred debris beyond the runway. Two flight attendants sitting in the back of the plane were the only survivors.
The crash happened so fast that the pilots of the Pulkovo airlines jet didn't have time to give flight controllers any indication there was a problem after lifting off from Sheremetyevo-1 airport, aviation officials said.
The plane hit the ground with such force that its front section was unrecognizable amid the blackened wreckage except for a wall of fuselage with the outlines of windows. Work to find and identify bodies was going slowly because of the scale of the destruction.
It was the second crash of a Soviet-era plane in as many days. On Saturday, a Su-27 fighter jet performing at an air show in western Ukraine clipped the ground and sliced through a crowd of spectators — killing at least 83 in one the world's deadliest air show accidents.
Maxim Khmelov, 13, was at a nearby beach with a friend trying to cool off on the clear, sunny day when he saw the Il-86 nose down and then bank before hitting the ground. He said a plume of smoke went up "like a mushroom cloud."
Smoke continued to rise from the wreckage, lying in a ditch among birch trees and bushes, long after the flames were out. Other jets soared into the sky directly overhead as firefighters worked hoses to fully extinguish the smoldering remains.
About 100 army conscripts dressed in camouflage arrived to help comb the crash site for bits of debris in the investigation, and a group of officials from the Russian Security Service — wearing black vests emblazoned with the agency's Russian initials FSB — were also at the scene.
Sheremetyevo-1 airport — which serves mainly flights within the former Soviet Union, and is located adjacent to Moscow's main international airport Sheremetyevo-2 — was closed for about an hour after the crash but was running normally by late Sunday afternoon.
Of the two flight attendants who survived and were being treated in Moscow hospitals, one was in shock and the other seriously injured, said Sheremetyevo airport General Director Sergei Belayev.
One of flight attendants, Arina Vinogradova, survived the crash with only an injured hand and bruises, and was able to sit up in her hospital bed in footage shown on RTR television. Dr. Dmitry Fedorovsky said it was an "exceptional case" and joked that she should write her memoirs.
The plane had carried passengers to Moscow from the Black Sea resort of Sochi and was heading back empty to its home airport in St. Petersburg, Belayev said. The flight between the capital and the former imperial capital usually takes about an hour, and airport official Vadim Sanzharov told Russian television that the Il-86's fuel tanks weren't full.
Anatoly Ivanov, a pilot and head of flight services for Pulkovo airlines — which operates regular passenger and cargo service between Moscow and St. Petersburg — said he was friends with the crashed jet's pilot and described him as a first-rate airman with more than 20 years experience flying.
Ivanov said it was "too early to say" what caused the crash, but added the plane had been maintained to Russian and international standards.
The Il-86, a workhorse of Russian airlines, is a four-engine wide-bodied plane with a capacity of up to 350 passengers. It is often used by top Russian officials for travel, including President Vladimir Putin ( news - web sites).
"This is a very tragic event. This was a reliable plane," Ivanov said. Russian media reports said in the nearly 30 years that the Il-86 has been in service there have been only six crashes with no fatalities.
Ivanov said a determination of the cause for the crash would rely on the examination of the plane's flight recorders, all of which were recovered by late Sunday afternoon.
The plane crashed near the Dmitrov highway northwest of the capital, filled with the regular Sunday afternoon traffic as Muscovites headed home from a hot summer weekend spent at their dachas.
People were riding bicycles along the dirt paths in the woods near the crash site, and some onlookers were dressed for the beach in bathing suit tops and shorts. There are numerous ponds and lakes in the area — the closest major recreation area to Moscow with a large water reservoir that is popular with boaters and swimmers.
Sun Jul 28, 2:57 PM ET
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian Il-86 passenger jet dove and crashed into a forest just after taking off Sunday afternoon from Moscow, killing 14 people and spreading charred debris beyond the runway. Two flight attendants sitting in the back of the plane were the only survivors.
The crash happened so fast that the pilots of the Pulkovo airlines jet didn't have time to give flight controllers any indication there was a problem after lifting off from Sheremetyevo-1 airport, aviation officials said.
The plane hit the ground with such force that its front section was unrecognizable amid the blackened wreckage except for a wall of fuselage with the outlines of windows. Work to find and identify bodies was going slowly because of the scale of the destruction.
It was the second crash of a Soviet-era plane in as many days. On Saturday, a Su-27 fighter jet performing at an air show in western Ukraine clipped the ground and sliced through a crowd of spectators — killing at least 83 in one the world's deadliest air show accidents.
Maxim Khmelov, 13, was at a nearby beach with a friend trying to cool off on the clear, sunny day when he saw the Il-86 nose down and then bank before hitting the ground. He said a plume of smoke went up "like a mushroom cloud."
Smoke continued to rise from the wreckage, lying in a ditch among birch trees and bushes, long after the flames were out. Other jets soared into the sky directly overhead as firefighters worked hoses to fully extinguish the smoldering remains.
About 100 army conscripts dressed in camouflage arrived to help comb the crash site for bits of debris in the investigation, and a group of officials from the Russian Security Service — wearing black vests emblazoned with the agency's Russian initials FSB — were also at the scene.
Sheremetyevo-1 airport — which serves mainly flights within the former Soviet Union, and is located adjacent to Moscow's main international airport Sheremetyevo-2 — was closed for about an hour after the crash but was running normally by late Sunday afternoon.
Of the two flight attendants who survived and were being treated in Moscow hospitals, one was in shock and the other seriously injured, said Sheremetyevo airport General Director Sergei Belayev.
One of flight attendants, Arina Vinogradova, survived the crash with only an injured hand and bruises, and was able to sit up in her hospital bed in footage shown on RTR television. Dr. Dmitry Fedorovsky said it was an "exceptional case" and joked that she should write her memoirs.
The plane had carried passengers to Moscow from the Black Sea resort of Sochi and was heading back empty to its home airport in St. Petersburg, Belayev said. The flight between the capital and the former imperial capital usually takes about an hour, and airport official Vadim Sanzharov told Russian television that the Il-86's fuel tanks weren't full.
Anatoly Ivanov, a pilot and head of flight services for Pulkovo airlines — which operates regular passenger and cargo service between Moscow and St. Petersburg — said he was friends with the crashed jet's pilot and described him as a first-rate airman with more than 20 years experience flying.
Ivanov said it was "too early to say" what caused the crash, but added the plane had been maintained to Russian and international standards.
The Il-86, a workhorse of Russian airlines, is a four-engine wide-bodied plane with a capacity of up to 350 passengers. It is often used by top Russian officials for travel, including President Vladimir Putin ( news - web sites).
"This is a very tragic event. This was a reliable plane," Ivanov said. Russian media reports said in the nearly 30 years that the Il-86 has been in service there have been only six crashes with no fatalities.
Ivanov said a determination of the cause for the crash would rely on the examination of the plane's flight recorders, all of which were recovered by late Sunday afternoon.
The plane crashed near the Dmitrov highway northwest of the capital, filled with the regular Sunday afternoon traffic as Muscovites headed home from a hot summer weekend spent at their dachas.
People were riding bicycles along the dirt paths in the woods near the crash site, and some onlookers were dressed for the beach in bathing suit tops and shorts. There are numerous ponds and lakes in the area — the closest major recreation area to Moscow with a large water reservoir that is popular with boaters and swimmers.
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