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Two planes collide at Makhachkala airport, 4 killed, 5 injured and 1 went missing

16 January 2009 07:30 (UTC +04:00)

The accident occurred at 21.10 (Moscow time) on January 15.
An airport spokesman said: "As an empty Il-76 was taking off from Makhachkala airport, another Il-76, with servicemen on board, was landing. The landing aircraft clipped the cockpit of the Il-76 that was taking off with its wing, and the cockpit caught fire. Firefighters extinguished the flame."
Russian Interior Ministry official Vasili Panchenko told RIA Novosti that 5 crew members had been injured.
He said that fire had not broken out in the planes, one of them had serious mechanical damage.
â€œThere was no one except the crew members on board,â€ he said.
Panchenko said special commission had been set up and investigation would be carried out.
A source in the Russian aeronavigation service told RIA Novosti earlier that those killed were members of the crew of the plane that was taking off, adding that there were 31 passengers in the landing plane and all came out alive.

Makhachkala airport will remain closed until a special decision is issued.