Crash Scene - Siberian Military Plane Crash

Police and firefighters searched for casualties near the Siberian city of Irkutsk, after a huge military Antonov transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 46 people aboard and more on the ground.

According to the Interfax news agency, up to 100 residents were killed and another 100 were injured when the plane barreled along the main street. Thirteen children reportedly were hospitalized, and dozens of residents were evacuated.

The plane, commonly known as the Ruslan, was carrying 16 crew members and 30 military personnel. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Flaming wreckage set at least five buildings on fire, and a multistory apartment building was leveled when the plane crashed just after 9:44 a.m., Interfax reported. The ITAR-Tass news agency said 16 bodies had been recovered from the apartment house.
The Antonov-124 four-engine aircraft, one of the world's largest planes, crashed about 20 seconds after taking off in good weather from an airport at an aircraft factory in the industrial town of Irkutsk-2, a satellite city of Irkutsk, Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Nikolai Baranov said.

According to Interfax, the flight was scheduled to go to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, then on to Vietnam.

In the evening hours, police and rescue teams searched the debris for casualties after firefighters battled the blaze, Russian television reported.

"The fire is out, and rescue workers have begun the search for bodies," an emergency official was quoted as saying.

The cause of the crash was unknown, and President Boris Yeltsin dispatched Prime Minster Viktor Chernomyrdin to the town to head the disaster probe.

Rescue teams were said to have recovered the Antonov's "black box," which experts hope will contain crucial flight information.

The former Soviet air fleet has been plagued by chronic safety problems since the 1991 collapse of the country and the breakup of the former state airline Aeroflot into some 400 companies.




File photo of an Antonov-124




Experts have blamed poor maintenance, safety violations and cost-cutting for persistent problems, which included nine major crashes over a 10-month period in 1994.

Russian aviation officials said recently that aircraft safety was improving, following attempts to boost inspection standards.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Siberian
• Military
• Plane
• Crash
• Antonov
• plane
• crash
• Vladivostok
• Irkutsk

[Vitahero]

A great plane hrribly damaged -.-

[TheTomyossarian]

good grief that looks terrible...

[a1oner]

was caused by extremely bad fuel quality. engines just conked out.

[Kenzofeis]

In contrast to US planes the russian ones leaves wreckage..

No, not really trying to be funny :/