A Russian Azimuth Airlines flight with 87 passengers and four crew members was forced to make an emergency landing at Antalya Airport in Turkey on Sunday after a fire broke out in its left engine. The aircraft, a Sukhoi SuperJet 100-95LR, had taken off from Sochi, Russia, and was en route to its destination when the fire occurred mid-flight. Despite the alarming situation, the plane landed safely, and emergency response teams quickly extinguished the flames.
All passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft, and thankfully, no one was injured. The emergency landing occurred under challenging weather conditions, and the aircraft touched down on runway 36R at 9:30 PM local time (TRT). Authorities are now investigating the cause of the fire.
Suat Seyitoglu, an official at the scene, confirmed that the fire was promptly contained and there were no casualties among the 87 passengers or the four crew members on board. “All 87 passengers and four crew members were safely evacuated,” he stated, as reported by The Moscow Times.
In a separate incident, on Monday, November 25, 2024, a DHL cargo plane operated by Swiftair crashed near Vilnius, Lithuania, killing one person and injuring two others. The plane, which had departed from Leipzig, Germany, was en route to Vilnius Airport when it went down in the Liepkalnis area, close to a residential neighborhood. The crash occurred around 5:30 AM local time.
Tragically, one pilot died in the crash, while the second pilot and two DHL employees onboard were injured but survived. A fire broke out at the crash site, although it was quickly extinguished. Fortunately, the aircraft struck the yard of a house rather than the building itself, preventing further fatalities. Local residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
The Lithuanian authorities reported that city services, along with a fire truck and a command team from Vilnius Airport, were on-site. “Airport operations are not disrupted at this time,” the Lithuanian airport authority stated in a post on X, providing reassurance to the public.
Investigations are ongoing into both incidents. The cause of the fire on the Azimuth Airlines flight and the circumstances surrounding the DHL cargo plane crash are being thoroughly examined to determine the factors that led to these events.
