Aeroflot plane was heavy with extra fuel before deadly crash landing

A Russian airliner that took off from Moscow was airborne for just 28 minutes before returning to make an emergency landing while still heavy with unburned fuel, which then ignited after a rough touchdown. Flames quickly engulfed the aircraft, killing 41 of the 78 people aboard. A day after Sunday’s horrifying accident at Sheremetyevo airport, Russian news media quoted the pilot, Denis Evdokimov, as saying he followed procedures for landing with excess weight. But the crew reportedly did not dump any fuel, which is common for flights that have to land soon after takeoff to prevent being overly heavy. The pilot said he was not certain why the plane landed hard. Video showed flames bursting from the jet’s underside as it touched down, then raging across the rear of the Sukhoi SSJ100’s fuselage within seconds as the airliner bounced down the runway. When the plane came to a halt, some of the people aboard plunged down inflatable slides deployed from the forward part of the plane. Some of those who escaped were carrying luggage, raising concerns that grabbing their bags may have delayed an evacuation in which every second was critical. Evdokimov said the plane had lost radio communications because of a lightning strike, but it was not clear if that precipitated the emergency landing. A flight attendant said there was a sharp flash soon after the Aeroflot flight took off, bound for the northern city of Murmansk. Russia’s main investigative agency said both of the plane’s flight recorders — data and voice — were recovered from the charred wreckage. Agency spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko was also quoted by Russian news agencies on Monday as saying that investigators were looking into three main possibilities behind the cause of the disaster: inexperienced pilots, equipment failure and bad weather.<br/>