A Boeing 737 passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing after 'micro-explosions' caused both engines to catch fire during take-off.
The S7 plane carrying 175 passengers flew from Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city, to the capital Moscow.
The fires started while the plane was on the runway, passengers said.
The small explosions led to a fire in both engines of a Boeing 737, resulting in an emergency landing.
A video filmed by a passenger shows the alarming sight of an engine fire at around 6.30am today. The flames can be seen intensely in the passenger windows during the nighttime fire.
The S7 plane with 175 passengers flew from Novosibirsk – Russia's third largest city – to the capital Moscow. The fires started while the plane was on the runway, passengers said
A video filmed by a passenger shows the alarming sight of an engine fire at around 6.30am today. The flames can be seen intensely in the passenger windows during the nighttime fire
The flames in the cabin seen through the windows
“While climbing, sparks and flames suddenly flew from both engines,” Shot media reported.
“The right engine, which I was sitting next to, caught fire while still on the runway, several flames broke out,” said a passenger.
“We took off and it was flashing up every ten to twenty seconds.
“Then the second engine caught fire, and they flashed at the same time.”
The pilots immediately called for an emergency landing and landed the plane safely at Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo Airport, with no casualties among passengers or crew.
According to those on board, the emergency services were on 'high alert' for the landing, which took place about twenty minutes after take-off.
The captain told passengers upon landing that both engines were “inoperative” and that the plane had to be towed from the runaway after the brakes overheated.
“During landing, the captain said the brakes caught fire,” a passenger told ASTRA media.
“All passengers have already disembarked.”
They were taken by bus to the terminal and told they would have to wait eight hours for a replacement plane to fly them to Moscow.
The cause was engine starting – a “violation of gas dynamic stability with micro-explosions,” the Eastern Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Russian Investigative Committee reported.
The fires started while the plane was on the runway, passengers said.
It is the second day in a row that Russia has suffered such a terrifying incident.
A day earlier, a Tu-204 cargo plane suffered an 'engine explosion' heard from the ground after taking off from Ulan-Ude, also in Siberia.
A day earlier, a Tu-204 cargo plane suffered an 'engine explosion' heard from the ground after taking off from Ulan-Ude, also in Siberia. Flames can be seen during flight
The plane caught fire yesterday after taking off from Ulan-Ude in Siberia
Footage showed the plane on fire as it jettisoned fuel and made an emergency landing
Footage showed the plane on fire as it jettisoned fuel and made an emergency landing.
A female witness Lyubov Pichueva said: “I heard a powerful explosion coming from upstairs.
“I thought it was fireworks at first, but the sound was too strange.”
She said: 'It was very scary.'
An investigation is underway by the Public Prosecution Service for Eastern Siberia.
Russia is experiencing an unprecedented wave of air incidents, while there are signs that Western sanctions are hampering efforts to maintain and service aircraft, and there are difficulties in obtaining spare parts.
Since spring 2022, airlines have required their staff not to record equipment defects in flight logbooks, according to a report.
A former Nordwind pilot said many pilots rely on “Russian luck.”
In the first eight months of this year, 120 plane crashes involving civilian aircraft of Russian airlines occurred in Russia.
This is more than double the number in recent years, despite significantly fewer flights as a result of Putin's war against Ukraine.