A corporate jet carrying only its crew crashed at a Moscow airport on Tuesday while taking off during a snowstorm, officials said. Everyone on board survived.
Before the twin-engine Challenger 850 crashed, a fire broke out on board as it took off from Vnukovo airport on a flight to Berlin, Transport Ministry spokesman Timur Khikmatov said.
Khikmatov said four crew members were on board and two were injured. Emergency and aviation officials initially said there were three crew members, and some had identified the plane as an Airbus A-310.
Air traffic controller Konstantin Fyodorov told state-run television that the plane caught fire and overturned while taking off.
Moscow was enveloped in blowing snow Tuesday. Vnukovo closed after the accident and the plane was being removed from the runway, Russian news agencies reported.
One of Moscow’s other international airports, Sheremetyevo, shut down for about half an hour earlier in the day while runways were cleared. Sheremetyevo and the other main airport, Domodedovo, both remained open later.