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95 People Dramatically Escape Burning Plane on Emergency Slides After Engine Catches Fire: Reports

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The passengers and crew onboard a Russian passenger jet are celebrating a narrow escape.

On Sunday, Nov. 24 at approximately 9:34 p.m. local time, the engine of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft operated by Azimuth Airlines — which had departed from Sochi in Russia carrying 95 people — caught fire after its arrival at Antalya Airport in Turkey, the Associated Press reported, citing Turkey’s transportation ministry.

Video footage of the incident was published by the aviation news website, Airport Haber, on X (formerly known as Twitter), and showed passengers exiting the plane via its emergency slide as smoke and flames billowed from the aircraft.

According to Reuters, all 89 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated from the plane, per the ministry.

A photo of the Antalya Airport sign.

Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty


The Turkish newspaper, Hürriyet Daily News reported that the blaze was extinguished by emergency teams minutes after an emergency call was made, according to the country’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

“After landing at Antalya airport at 9:34 p.m., an emergency call was made by the aircraft pilots due to the fire. The fire was quickly intervened by our ARFF teams at 9:36 p.m.,” a statement read, the newspaper reported.

“Work is underway to remove the plane from the runway and landings at the airport have been canceled until 3 a.m. [local time]. Take-offs from the airport are carried out from the military runway,” a statement added at the time.

Russia’s Federal Aviation Authority, Rosaviatsiya, is investigating the incident, per Reuters. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, AP reported.

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Live air traffic company Flightradar24 said on X that the aircraft was 7 years old and there had been “strong and gusty winds” in the area at the time of the incident.

According to the Hürriyet Daily News, the same aircraft had an emergency landing on Oct. 16 amid reports of a hydraulic fluid leak and sparks as it landed at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. The outlet stated all 102 passengers and six crew members were unharmed in the incident at the time.

Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry and Azimuth Airlines didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.

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