to takeoff the crew sent a distress signal and then communication with traffic control was lost the plane reportedly made an aborted emergency landing at a second approach that resulted we believe in the hard landing which led to this deadly fire. this was a few more details this was an air of lot flight one forty nine two said two more months it departed the shuttle departure time was five fifty in the evening local time here in moscow and the initial report said that it was forced to turn back after there was a fire alert on board lots of information yet to be confirmed but from what we have gathered at the transponder was changed regionally to indicate that radio transmissions had been lost with air traffic control the transponder still allows them to send out a communication of sorts in a very form of a basic signal and then that transponder signal squawk was then subsequently

a few minutes later changed to say that there was an emergency situation on board the plane from the video that we've seen this is after the plane had landed and well it's obviously that huge flames of engulfed entire back portion of the plane and yet miraculously just sixty seconds or so estimated was required for an evacuation of the plane so the cabin crew really performing at their utmost to get people out of this deadly situation and you see many of them running just seconds after landing across the tarmac even with their luggage remarkably some of them. we have been getting updates from our correspondent at sheremetyevo airport throughout the evening we hope to speak to him very shortly indeed it's it's extremely quiet as you might anticipate at sheremetyevo this is coming up to the climax of what's been a fire. day national holiday here in russia

a lot of people given the wednesday thursday friday off to add on to their weekend so many people had flown to take a short break in five days and as you would expect now at the end of the week in many people this will be a busy day at moscow's major airports many people returning back to then go back to work on monday a very busy time but so many flights now the vast majority of incoming flights to share a matter where it had to be diverted you saw you saw the arrivals boards there so many having been diverted not just to other airports in moscow the likes of damage out of but two cities much further afield hundreds of kilometers away missing taking over a dozen flights and as for departures well there have been some but very few huge disruptions caused by this accident metaverse one landing strip was kept open for arrivals we were hearing in that one was kept open for departures for the

vast majority of travelers this is resulted in a chaotic day and of course it goes without mentioning a hugely upsetting day a devastating day amid this tragedy the latest information we're getting there that more than forty people have lost their lives. at that press conference that i mentioned it was brief by all accounts many the airport let's hear from our correspondent exist on of who will have had to just rush off to hear what things said by officials. the information what we've heard not bad terrible in fact what more can you tell us at this stage of the latest. well what we've heard from what we've just heard from the representative of the of russia's investigative committees a confirmation of the official number of dead and that he's at least forty one people or so i mean that's

a very very significant hike from the previous figure which was just thirteen people but when it comes to what happened yes we are at the share mess of ports and this was the departing point this is where that craft departed and here is how the events unfolded at least the way we know about it so far it took off and shortly after wards reportedly got hit by a lightning strike now we heard reports of that unconfirmed but they were true the this information was attributed to the crew of the airplane and also we talked to one of the passengers off the plane who confirmed that he indeed did see a bright white flash as he was and board and apparently after that the crew made the decision to turn around and go back to the sheremetyevo airport now apparently that a lightning strike sent all the communications systems all of these super super jet

offline basically the pilots had no connection to the services on the ground so the tried making a landing but remember all of that was happening just thirty to forty minutes after the takeoff the aircraft was heavy from all the fuel it was carrying the aircraft was basically planes they're not designed to will. and there are so heavy and they also they also didn't drop the fuel apparently because of losing all the communications at least this is how it looks like what it looks like so far so. it hit the tarmac twice and on the second hit its share went into the fuel tanks and so they caught on fire remember these fuel tanks they were still full on gasoline jet fuel and so there was plenty of that too because a blaze hence all these horrifying pictures of

a plane engulfed in fine i think clouds of black smoke as it rolls through the tarmac and we managed to speak to some of the witnesses who saw the events unfold here is what they told us. it was quite unexpected we had a flight to you catherine went to the gate a little earlier so as not to be laying so we certainly had the window i just turned my head and all of a sudden i saw the burning plane with huge plumes of black smoke as arrived at the scene within two minutes they started fighting the fire they didn't show signs of panic as the plane was too close to those that were waiting on the runways we didn't know it was landing it looked like it was just fifty meters from the nearest aircraft. but. this plane was landing engulfed in a terrible fire firefighters were quickly on the scene but i couldn't see being evacuated from where i was in the terminal. so. now representatives of air flow at

the company operating the sukhoi superjet they said that the evacuation was done in well under the protocol time it was done in approximately fifty five seconds the spokesperson said well the protocol time is about ninety seconds so i guess this is good news now as for the. where we're at right now the sheremetyevo airport i mean you can really take a look behind me it is empty it looks nothing like normally because it is a major hub it is the home airport of the year floored airline and i mean look at this the only thing you can really see is russia's police and some passengers who are still hoping to depart from here or maybe some relatives of those who are meeting those who are set to land but basically all but one runway one emergency run we have been closed the airport has largely been put under the shutdown lots of

flights that were inbound to this airport they have been redirected and we've heard announcements on the speakerphone here basically that some of them did land in neighboring airports of moscow there are three of them and some of the landed in other cities in other cities of russia and even abroad like in russia for instance right of or seen petersburg and also we've had flights landing in minsk the capital of belarus and in helsinki so here what this is what the situation like so far here in fact we've seen literally motorcades of official vehicles from the police to with the two ambulances medics to the investigative committee of course in fact there are still a couple of ambulances stationed just outside this terminal ready to provide their services to anyone who might need them so i will be staying here bringing you up to date we're expecting a number of russian officials to come out and make and make their statements i will

be bringing you the latest on those. bring is very sadly the news that this tragedy is now claimed forty one lives that is the latest official number now earlier on we spoke to an aviation lawyer and former pilot arthur wolk who gave us his views based on the latest information of what transpired at share a better. well of course if the landing is heavy enough it would have to really be a very very hard landing the landing gear itself could go through the structure the fuel is just above it so theoretically you could have a fire from that of the reports are unclear at the moment whether the fire heard in slight and that's what causes the crew to turn the airplane around or whether it occurred just on landing it certainly appears from the video that the landing gear it collapse and it was literally riding along the back part of the airplane down

the road with fire on an airliner is is really one of the worst possible of this for the crew because they have no way to fight it the materials in the airplane are largely plastic and fabric and they burn readily even if they're protected in some small way from propagation and so it's an extremely dangerous emergency and requires an immediately jerk i will tell you that according to the information again it's very preliminary the pilots that had put on what's called seventy seven hundred one their electronic equipment necessary will especially if communications are the loss that there's an emergency the other thing i noticed looking at the radar was the airplane made a circle first not two approaches to the airport but asarco away from the airport to lose altitude before it landed that tells me there was at least in the crew's

mind a very serious emergency requiring them to get on the ground quickly. briefly to some of today's other news stories the venezuelan the russian foreign minister met today and discussed u.s. threats to use military force after an attempted coup by the country's opposition leader failed to promote said that the only way out of the crisis is through dialogue not force. we and our venezuelan partners agree that any use of force circumventing the un charter and the un security council may have catastrophic consequences for the entire structure of modern global security as any nation venezuelans themselves could only decide their own fate through peaceful dialogue within the scope of the constitution this was another attempt at violence by the venezuelan opposition president nicolas maduro insists that dialogue remains the only option unlike those who voiced the u.s. position which says all options are on the table we believe the only way is to

respect the u.n. charter preserve peace in venezuela and not violent or forceful overthrow of the regime. the meeting comes out of venezuela was rocked by violent protests this week in which more than one hundred people were injured president nicolas maduro said an attempted coup by the opposition leader one guy i don't know was put down on tuesday quite claims to be venezuela's legitimate president announced the final phase of the door and called on people to rise up against the government. this was today brave soldiers and brave treating some of the brave people are following our constitution and answering the call you today the armed forces are standing behind the people and the constitution and.

so we're going to recover and rebuild and as we look at that that's what venezuela needs today is that us not. by defeating this terrible coup attempt. with the truth with loyalty with on. all the countries crisis will also be discussed by russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov and the u.s. secretary of state one pump a zero in finland next week that will be on the sidelines of the arctic council summit washington and why don't deny plotting

a military overthrow with america's national security adviser john bolton insisting that it's an internal matter for the people of venezuela. we need men is well ruled by the people of venezuela not by external forces it's the bolton was done his damnedest to ensure regime change in venezuela whose country has championed regime change sanctioned then a frozen billions in state funds threatened it with invasion now he's saying no one should meddle that it's up to the days whelan's to decide course not what he meant is no one but america all options remain on the table he said that would be a big mistake for me doro and those supporting him to use force against innocent civilians mr bolton's deficient of innocent i think defers from the classic meaning look at these demonstrators with guns shooting at troops and police i suppose the

bullets of full of love to a few bad hold these innocents countable says mr bolton we might invade between the lines and star most going to stay with you america will stand with you until freedom and democracy are restored. today interim president announced the start of a pressure on libya time the us government fully supports the venezuelan people in their quest for freedom and democracy democracy cannot be defeated. what do you know they stand with the people never mind the sanctions and the misery for millions that they've caused a question is which people exactly the jew say you stand with the few hundred machete gun wielding fellows that try to stage a violent coup or the thousands upon thousands who concurrently marched in

support of the venezuelan president. against this coup this is clearly not a coup we recognize one go i do know as the legitimate interim president of venezuela and just as it's not a coup one the president of the united states gives an order to the department of defense it's not a coup for wind why don't you try and take command of the venezuelan military your own father mr bolton one by due who was never elected doesn't control the military or ministries or anything he is the president but nicolas maduro the actual president supported by millions the military the ministries he's not the president see what i mean by strange it's almost like the bitter and banal things didn't go according to plan. of the u.s.

objects to the coup the dictionary defines it as a sudden violent and illegal seizure of power from a government i guess debated whether that's what is being attempted in venezuela. the u.s. supports coup d'etat is all the time this is another example that one has no power under the constitution of venezuela the fact the us recognize him recognizes him is of no import the u.s. recognizes him because he has already agreed to privatizing venezuela's oil in the interest of u.s. companies that's why the us recognizes him and that does not make him with the opinion of the united states is no the only opinion for all other fifty countries recognize why go as illegitimate president ninety percent of venezuelans do support also while you go there are legitimate president this is an unfolding coup that the us watched to push forward and we have to remember by the way the us supported the

coup in two thousand and two against hugo chavez and were reluctant to call it a coup back then the fact that the us wants to use semantics to cover up what it's doing doesn't change the fact that this is a coup when people say you know a seizure of power illegal seizure of power the basic definition of a coup doesn't key element there is not illegal because. doesn't get him in power recognized by the international community an overwhelmingly good nice international community in by the venezuelan people who goes out in matches people are on the streets supporting the dura that's undeniable there are people there that support him i have friends there contacts that support him you never hear their side word or use never what you never hear from them in the press and so you get one side of the story and that is tantamount to

misrepresenting destroyed their recent science or do not just if i decline in common the basic common me and the three million plus in this one it's gaping venezuela for other current. no start when this actually started this started way before that six million people voted for nicolas maduro last may in a free and fair election that i observed you know how many people voted for one guy i don't know. if you just tuning in our major breaking news story this evening is it's a tragedy that's unfolded that moscow's biggest airport sheremetyevo airport a plane landing in flames there and investigators have just in the last hour confirmed that forty one lives have been claimed in this accident after a runway fire it happened now about seven hours ago and we should be able to bring you pictures now of the aircraft once it had just landed on the tarmac some

photographs here huge for a single thing certainly the back half of the flame of the plane in this emergency landing there were seventy five passengers and three crew members on board we understand and we can show you video now of the fire this is when the plane is just landed i must warn you might find these images disturbing. we're going to be out here. a little bit more information about the actual plane involved the s s j one hundred is a sukhoi superjet this is a short to medium haul passenger plane purposely used for this internal flight to morons this particular model was manufactured in two thousand and seventeen but

to carry up to ninety eight passengers its range up to four thousand six hundred kilometers the one hundred eighty six such superjet scarily in service with various lines. ok let's go back to a metaphor but we've been getting updates certainly brings a lot of important official information by our correspondent has done a press conference took place not too long. information coming out. well yes indeed neal finally some officials have come out and at least we have some understanding of what happened now the most important bit we've heard a confirmation of the official number of people who have deceased in this tragedy and that is forty one which is a bit of a hike from the previous figure which was thirteen this confirmation we heard from a representative of russia's investigative committee and forty one people confirmed dead now also some of the relatives and of the family and just friends of those who

were onboard the u.s. still in the airport there sitting in a room just over there with where you can see the russian policeman just to go over there and that's where they have been gathered so far are we talked to i talked to at least i talked to one of them and she told me that basically they have medics and psychologists kind of talking to them and helping them to cope with the situation but they still have no information as to what happened to their loved ones they don't have any lists of those who have made it out safely and alive of those injured and those who have been confirmed dead so they're just sitting there waiting for any information to come out now when it comes to the aircraft into the tragedy this is the understanding of the timeline we have so far of the sukhoi superjet operated by air flowed to cough and shortly after that apparently was struck by lightning vinces this information we have been getting from two sources

one unconfirmed reports attributing this to the flight crew and also i talked to one of the passengers on. board of the plane and that he confirmed to all of us journalists that indeed he can recall a bright white flash before the aircraft started started to turn now apparently that lightning strike sent the communications systems of the aircraft on la off line which means that basically the pilots had no contact with. the ground with the dispatchers on the ground so they were going in blind there were going down blind and also mind all of that happened thirty to forty minutes after takeoff which means that the aircraft was fully loaded with the fuel that was fully field so and really such an aircraft's they are not designed to land so having with so much

fuel on board and now we're getting reports that the basically the flight crew decided not to drop the fuel because the communications with the communication systems went offline and so the what we've seen in the videos is that the aircraft hit the ground twice trying to make a landing at a high speed and on the second time it caught fire apparently shasta's penetrated the fuel tanks and remember plenty of fuel on board plenty of fuel to catch fire so the aircraft was caught a blaze and all the smoke as it was rolling through the tarmac thick thick black clouds and of course the fire now in fact we've heard from some of the eyewitnesses from some of the people who saw the tragedy unfold and here is what they told us. more cultural it was quite unexpected we had a flight to you catherine went to the gate

a little earlier so's not to be late so we certainly had the window i just turned my head and all of a sudden i saw the burning plane with huge plumes of black smoke as arrived at the scene within two minutes they started. they didn't show signs of panic as the plane was through close to those that were waiting on the runways we didn't know it was learned it looked like it was just fifty meters from the nearest aircraft. but. this plane was landing engulfed in a terrible fire firefighters were quickly on the scene but i couldn't see being evacuated from where i was in the terminal. while the videos from inside the aircraft showcase the panic of it well all of the passengers there really caught and but the official representative of the air flight company the company operating the sukhoi superjet in fact revealed that the evacuation was done well under the protocol time in about fifty five seconds while the standard time like the the

acceptable time is about ninety seconds now when it comes to this place because we are after all at the sheremetyevo airport and you can easily look behind me all you can see is russian police and well a big pool of journalists over there and well in fact what i'm being shown right now that i'm being shown an official list of people we have twenty eight people who were either out alive or taken to hospital so five people have been taken to hospital to hospital according to this official list of people now it is all in russian so you can't really make make probably may make out the cyrillic letters but well we have twenty eight entries of those who have who are alive and apparently unharmed well at least relatively from what i can tell from this list and five people have been taken to hospital now going back to what i was

saying now this airport it has been shut down only one emergency runway is operational so lots of flights have been redirected those that were in to the show and. airports and those flights are of course some of the three other most ports they try to take the load but of course the can't cope with all of the planes this is a major aerial hub so a lot of planes have been forced to land in other cities over russia for instance like surat overseen petersburg those were the announcement we heard on the speakers here inside of the terminal but as well some of the flights landed in for instance minsk of the capital of belarus or even helsinki helsinki excuse me finland so i'm here i will be bringing you all the latest as the relatives and the passengers are trying to cope with what happened today. and bring the latest on today's tragic events it is don of at sheremetyevo ok we're going to take

a very very short break who's speaking to you in just a few minutes time once again stay with us for our breaking news coverage. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy on sunday shouldn't let it be an arms race based on off and spearing dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. do you know more of the. underwater. total room. money we didn't know. all your. post due to the

move for your. visit this is a stick from the water bottle phone in the stomach of the fish the brand is part of the coca-cola company which sells millions of bottles of soda every day the idea was that let's tell consumers there are the bad ones there the litter bugs are throwing us away industry should be blamed for all this waste the company has long promised to reuse the plastic. soon as we speak so. that seems cool sets their classes on my end on a day when you especially projects funding me. on i'm your best bet is the end of infinity fun now the mountains of waste only grow higher.

join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports. i'm show business i'll see you then. with the mike sitting down yes on. breaking news here on our national forty one people have been confirmed dead including at least c. children after a plane burst into flames during an emergency landing in moscow. and the fate of the remaining passengers and crew is that this point clear. this isn't.