Fire triggered by ‘micro-explosions’ breaks on second Russian plane | World News

A second Russian civil aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after a fire in both of its engines.

The Boeing 737 passenger plane was carrying 175 passengers to the capital of Moscow from the city of Novosibirsk at around 6.30am today.

Video footage shows the fires started on the S7 airline plane while it was on the runway taking off.

A passenger said: ‘The right engine, next to which I was sitting, caught fire while still on the runway, several flames burst out.

‘We took off and it flared up once every 10 to 20 seconds.

‘Then the second engine caught fire, and they flashed simultaneously.’

Shot media reported: ‘While climbing, sparks and flames suddenly flew from both engines.’

The captain told passengers both engines were ‘out of order’ and the brakes had overheated, leaving the plane needing to be towed from the runway.

Another passenger told Astra media: ‘During landing, the captain said that the brakes caught fire.

‘All passengers have already got off.’

The aircraft was brought down safely after an emergency landing at Novosibirsk’s Tolmachevo Airport 20 minutes after take off.

Passengers reported the emergency services were on ‘high alert’ for the landing.

No injuries were reported, though passengers were told they would have to wait eight hours for another plane to fly them to Moscow.

The Eastern Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Russian Investigative Committee reported the cause was a ‘violation of gas-dynamic stability with micro-explosions’ – engine surging.

Just yesterday a Russian cargo plane also caught fire after an engine explosion.

The Tu-204 aircraft was flying from Baikal Airport in Ulan-Ude, Russia, to Zhangzhou, China, at the time.

The aircraft dumped fuel and made an emergency landing with one engine. There were five crew members on board and no one was injured.

Witness Lyubov Pichueva said: ‘I heard a powerful explosion coming from above.

‘At first I thought it was fireworks, but the sound was too strange. It was very scary.’

There were 120 air accidents in Russia involving civil aircraft operated by Russian airlines in the first eight months of 2023.

This is more than double the number in recent years, despite significantly fewer flights as a result of the war against Ukraine.

It is thought sanctions from the West are affecting the maintenance and service of planes in Russia, with problems obtaining spare parts.

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