Eighteen hurt as passenger jet comes off runway in Russia

Eighteen people were injured when a Russian passenger plane ran off an airport runway outside the southern city of Sochi on Saturday and caught fire, officials and state media reported.

Russia’s healthcare ministry said there were no fatalities in the incident but state news agency RIA said one Sochi airport staff member died during the clean-up operation.

Utair’s Boeing 737-800, carrying 164 passengers and six crew members from Moscow to Sochi, did not brake in time after landing, RIA reported, citing local emergency services.

The aircraft had landed in heavy rain and with a strong tail wind, Russian civil aviation official Oleg Smirnov told state television channel Rossiya24, which showed images of the aircraft with damaged engines and wings.

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Sochi airport said on its website the burning aircraft was extinguished in eight minutes and all those on board were evacuated within 17 minutes.

The Russian flight safety watchdog will conduct an assessment of Sochi airport and Utair, Rossiya24 channel reported.

Safety concerns have plagued Russia’s airline industry as it has witnessed multiple fatal crashes in recent years.

In June, a Utair plane carrying Peruvian soccer fans from the World Cup city of Ekaterinburg to Tyumen in Siberia had to land due to an engine failure that caused the cabin to fill with smoke. - Reuters