A passenger airliner has careered off the runway at a Russian airport and crashed onto a nearby highway while landing on Saturday. The impact also caused the plane to break into pieces and catch fire. Five people died in the incident.
Officials said there were eight people – all crew members – aboard the Tu-204 belonging to Russian airline Red Wings that was flying back from the Czech Republic.
The plane rolled off the runway into a snowy field and partly onto an adjacent highway, before disintegrating. Video footage of the highway crash, as well as images of the plane afterwards, can be seen below.
Even though the accident occurred amid snow and winds blowing up to 15 meters a second, a spokesman for a top Russian investigative agency, Vladimir Markin, said initial indications were that pilot error was the cause. A criminal case over possible flight safety violations has also been launched.
[Source: ABC News]
