CLOSE-UP: Moscow plane largely intact after hero pilots’ emergency landing (VIDEO)
Flattened cornstalks and a dented nose cone make up the bulk of the damage in the aftermath of an emergency landing near Moscow.
Footage shows the wreckage of the largely intact aircraft up close. Russia’s Investigative Committee rushed to the scene of Thursday’s accident, near Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport, but what they found was atypical for crash sites.With all 226 passengers and seven crew surviving the emergency landing, officials marveled at an almost entirely intact aircraft.
Footage shows damage to the craft’s nose cone, as well as a missing wing. Inflatable slides, where passengers and crew made their hasty escape, are seen from the plane’s two exits.
The crash site looks surprisingly orderly and serene, not including the cornstalk ‘fatalities.’
Operated by Russia’s Ural Airlines, the Airbus A321 was forced to land on its belly after it unexpectedly struck “numerous” seagulls or crows shortly after takeoff.
The Kremlin has announced that it will give state awards to the “hero” pilots who carried out the emergency landing.
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