On Sunday evening, a Russian plane landing in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, caught fire after a troubled landing.
Departing from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, in southwest Russia, the Azimuth Airlines plane landed in Antalya in conditions of wind shear, according to the carrier. Wind shear is a difference in wind direction and/or speed over short distances, which can affect an aircraft’s headwind or tailwind, affecting a plane’s intended flight path and requiring ” substantial control action”, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
At 9:34 pm local time, the pilot made an emergency call, after a fire started from the left engine of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft. Airport rescue crews and firefighters quickly arrived at the scene and put out the flames, according to a statement from the Turkish ministry of transport.
According to the ministry, after landing, the landing gear of the aircraft broke, causing damage to the fuel tank and engine. A fire broke out as a result of fuel contacting the hot engine and brake systems.
Fire Panic on Russian Plane at Antalya Airport! 🔥✈️
A Sukhoi Superjet 100 type passenger plane belonging to the Russian airline Azimuth encountered a serious accident during its landing at Antalya Airport. It was reported that the plane leaked fuel as a result of its left engine… pic.twitter.com/f06gGcBxLL— AirportIST (@AirportIST) November 24, 2024
Meanwhile, cabin crew initiated the evacuation procedure, deploying the inflatable slide from the front door on the right side of the plane, opposite to the fire. All 85 passengers, including children, and 6 cabin crew members safely evacuated the aircraft with no injuries reported.
Writing about the incident in Antalya on X, Istanbul Airport praised the quick emergency response, saying it was a ” record speed evacuation and fire intervention”, as “Airport ARFF teams arrived at the scene within seconds and brought the fire under control within 2 minutes”.
“Time is very precious in airplane fires. In the first seconds, it is extremely important to intervene in fires that reach a temperature of 600 degrees in 5 minutes”, Turan Ayanlar, Deputy Head of Aviation Training Department at the Turkish State Airports Administration also praised the quick emergency response, noting that the ARFF teams arrived at the scene in 23 seconds.
In another post in the same series, Istanbul Airport also highlighted the questioning quality of Sukhoi, that have a track record especially of defective landing gear. Moreover, Russian aviation and the quality of its equipment have been severely impacted by Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Among the sanctions, closure of airspace for Russian aircraft and the cease in supplying new aircraft or spare parts and even stopping access to pilot training have paralysed Russian aviation.
Flag carrier Aeroflot however bet on domestic flights in addition to launching a new international network towards countries without sanctions. Putin also passed a law allowing for the inscription of foreign aircraft in the Russian national registry, thus making their repossession difficult. Russian Minister of Transport, Vitaly Savelyev said last year at the time that almost 800 aircraft were transferred to the domestic registry.
Despite all these and billions of roubles poured into the survival of Russia’s aviation, airlines were still forced to strip planes for parts, not only for the Boeing and Airbus jets, but also for the Russian-made Sukhoi, the parts for which are made abroad, even if it is ultimately assembled in Russia. Last summer, flag carrier Aeroflot was reported operating at least nine planes without functioning brakes due to wearing out.
