(CNN) At least 41 people on board a Russian passenger jet were killed, including two children, after the aircraft crash-landed at a Moscow airport on Sunday, bursting into flames on impact. Aeroflot flight SU 1492 skidded down the runway at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, its rear section ablaze and spilling thick, black smoke. Once the plane had come to a halt, passengers escaped using emergency slides from the plane's two forward doors, before running away from the burning aircraft. Initial reports said the Superjet 100 was flying from Moscow to Murmansk, a Russian city in the Arctic circle, when an emergency on board forced it to turn back. Russia's Interfax news agency reported that a "loss of communication" caused by a "lightning strike" had led to the decision to return to Sheremetyevo. No official cause has yet been provided for the disaster. Data from flight tracker Flightradar24 shows the plane took off just after 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) and was in the air for just under 30 minutes, before making a loop in the skies north of Moscow and heading back to the airport. Shocking video of the incident showed the plane approach the runway at speed before hitting the ground, causing it to launch back in the air before hitting the runway again and bursting into flames. A total of 78 people were aboard the stricken flight, including five crew members. Thirty-seven people survived, five of whom are currently receiving treatment in hospital, said Elena Markovskaya, a spokeswoman for Russia's Investigative Committee, a top law-enforcement agency. An American citizen was killed in the crash, Interfax reported. A passenger in a plane waiting to depart Moscow posted video on Instagram purportedly showing fire crews attending the scene as the aircraft sat in flames on the runway. Russian airline Aeroflot published an "incomplete" list of 33 survivors, including the names of the five passengers hospitalized. In a series of short statements on its website, it said the aircraft was evacuated in 55 seconds, compared with the "industry norm" of 90 seconds. The flight crew "did everything in its power to save passenger lives and provide emergency assistance to those involved," another short release said. "Tragically, they were unable to save all of those aboard." The captain was the last to leave the burning aircraft, the airline added, and offered its condolences to the passengers and their families. It announced that it would fly relatives of those affected to Moscow without charge. Russian-made jet Sukhoi manufactures military aircraft and is known especially for its fighter jets. Its civilian aircraft, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, is the first post-Soviet commercial airliner to have been designed and built in Russia. The Superjet is a relatively new aircraft, making its maiden flight in 2008 before entering service in mid-2011. More than 100 planes are in operation around the world, according to the company. The narrow-bodied, dual-class cabin aircraft can transport 100 passengers over regional routes and is "a fusion of Russia's famed aviation design and production skills with the latest systems from leading aerospace suppliers around the world," the aircraft's brochure says. In 2012 a demonstration flight over Indonesia crashed in a remote, mountainous part of the country. Earlier that year, a Superjet 100 operated by Aeroflot was forced to abandon its flight to Astrakhan, Russia and return to Moscow because of problems with the undercarriage, according to RIA Novosti. A similar defect in another Aeroflot-operated Superjet 100 had to be fixed in Minsk the previous year. The model achieved the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type Certificate in 2012, and also holds safety certificates from a number of other aviation authorities. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday that it does not plan to suspend the operation of Sukhoi Superjet aircraft, state news agency TASS reported. Investigation ordered Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a "thorough investigation" into the fiery emergency landing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS. "All instructions have been given to conduct the most thorough investigation, (to carry out) the necessary orders to find out the cause of this accident," said Peskov, according to TASS. He added that Putin "extends his deep condolences to those who lost their near and dear in this incident." The Investigative Committee said in a statement Monday that it was examining "various versions" that might have caused the crash landing, including the qualifications of the pilots, air-traffic controllers and maintenance personnel, aircraft malfunction and adverse weather conditions. The committee routinely conducts investigations into major incidents with loss of life.<doc-sep>Footage has emerged from inside a burning plane as it made an emergency landing in Moscow on Sunday. As many as 41 people died after flames engulfed the Aeroflot aircraft. The video appears to show the engine and wing of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 ablaze as it landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Crew and passengers say the plane was struck by lightning in the air, causing it to turn back just 20 minutes into a flight to Murmansk in the far north. Thirty-seven people managed to escape. Russian investigators are looking at pilot errors, including taking off into a storm and landing instead of burning fuel.<doc-sep>Panicked passengers rushed to evacuate a burning Aeroflot plane at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after the Sukhoi Superjet-100 made a fiery crash-landing at a second attempt. At least one person was killed and four injured. UPDATE: 13 people, including 2 children, confirmed dead in Superjet-100 crash-landing in Moscow Footage shared on Twitter appeared to show a dense cloud of black smoke pouring out of flight SU1492 parked on the runway as dozens of ambulances were dispatched to the scene. All 78 passengers were evacuated from the burning wreck, and some 10 people have been reported injured. READ MORE: ‘Hell in Sheremetyevo’: Witnesses describe fire that DESTROYED Russian Superjet-100 Посадка пылающего Sukhoi Superjet 100 в Шереметьево. Пилоты - стальные люди pic.twitter.com/ETlzOHbUKw — Дмитрий Смирнов (@dimsmirnov175) May 5, 2019 Первые секунды после посадки горящего борта в Шереметьево. Люди, спасшиеся из самолёта, бегут по полосе pic.twitter.com/j3lcDnvtEF — baza (@bazabazon) May 5, 2019 A plane just caught fire at Sheremetyovo Airport. pic.twitter.com/2t3NlGfLnF — Punti (@punti_z) May 5, 2019 A lot of passengers just started screaming “oh shit shit shit oh no oh no fuck nooo!!! !”....And then we saw that there is a plane on fire right in front of us...I don’t know what to say — Kristian Kostov (@KristianKostov_) May 5, 2019 Aeroflot Flight SU1492 declared an emergency shortly after takeoff from Sheremetyevo and returned to the airport after 27 minutes in the air. The commuter aircraft was due to fly to Murmansk before the fire forced it to return to Moscow and crash-land. After the fire was extinguished, the extent of the damage was revealed. The tail had been completely consumed by the blaze, and much of the rear fuselage had been burned down to its metal skeleton. The aircraft involved was relatively new, with reports saying it was made either in 2017 or 2018. A criminal investigation has been opened into the incident. Also on rt.com 13 people, including 2 children, confirmed dead in Superjet-100 crash-landing in Moscow Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<doc-sep>
At least 41 people died after a Russian Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet plane made an emergency landing due to fire on board in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, investigators said in a statement. "There were 78 people on board, including crew members," the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website. "According to updated information, 37 out of them survived." Earlier on Sunday, the investigators said 13 people had been killed in the plane crash. Television footage showed the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash bouncing along the tarmac at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport before the rear part of the plane suddenly bursts into flames. Many passengers on board SU 1492 then escaped via the plane's emergency slides that inflated after the hard landing. The plane, which had been flying from Moscow to the northern Russian city of Murmansk, had been carrying 73 passengers and five crew members, Russia's aviation watchdog said. TASS said some people on board remained unaccounted for. Earlier on Sunday, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said it was investigating the case and confirmed reports by Russian news agencies that 13 people were killed in the burning plane, including two children. No official cause was yet been given for the incident although some surviving passengers spoke of a lightning strike. "We took off and then lightning struck the plane," the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily cited one surviving passenger, Pyotr Egorov, as saying. "The plane turned back and there was a hard landing. We were so scared we almost lost consciousness. The plane jumped down the landing strip like a grasshopper and then caught fire on the ground." Russia's Investigative Committee said it was looking into whether the pilots had breached air safety rules. "Soon, investigators will begin interviewing victims, eyewitnesses, airport staff and the airline carrier, as well as other persons responsible for the operation of the aircraft. Required technical documentation will be examined," the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said. President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed their condolences and ordered investigators to establish what had happened. The Interfax news agency cited an unnamed "informed source" as saying the evacuation of the plane had been delayed by some passengers insisting on collecting their hand luggage first. Russian news agencies reported that some passengers had been injured, some of them seriously, and were being treated in local hospitals. A rescue team was combing through the charred wreckage of the rear of the plane on Sunday evening looking for survivors, the Interfax news agency reported. Aeroflot said in a statement that the company had activated its crisis response team. The plane had registration number RA-89098. Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes. If you have witnessed the emergency landing and are willing to share information with Euronews, please feel free to contact us. Email: sandrine.amiel@ext.euronews.com