Terrifying moment Russian cargo plane’s engine explodes shortly after take-off, leaving trail of fire as it dumps fuel

• Video showed a plane jettisoning fuel in a desperate attempt to avoid a disaster 
• Russia suffered as many as 120 air accidents in the first eight months of 2023

Dramatic video shows the moment a stricken Russian cargo plane’s exploded shortly after take-off, leaving a trail of fire as the plane desperately dumped fuel.

The Tu-204 was shown mid-air this morning, followed by a long streak of vibrant orange as it jettisoned fuel before making an emergency landing at the airport it had left from in Ulan-Ude, East Siberia.

The Aviastar aircraft is used to ferry goods between China and Russia amid Western sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime.

It had been flying from Baikal Airport in Ulan-Ude to Chinese city Zhangzhou when the explosion led to fire in its left engine.

Alexey Tsydenov, head of the Buryatia region, said the aircraft had dumped fuel before making an emergency landing using one engine.

Speaking after the events, witness Lyubov Pichueva said: ‘I heard a powerful explosion coming from above.

‘At first I thought it was fireworks, but the sound was too strange. It was very scary.’

Stunning video showed a Tu-204 cargo plane on fire on December 7 over Ulan-Ude, Siberia

Burning fuel trails the plane as it desperately tries to land following an engine fire today

Witnesses said they were able to see the plane dumping fuel as it tried to avert a horrifying disaster.   

One said: ‘It was burning very bright just now. Something is falling out of it… It is dumping something.’

All five crew on board managed to survive the terrifying ordeal as the plane landed safely at 8:30 am local time today (0:30 am GMT). 

An investigation is underway by the East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office

Russia has suffered a spate of air safety issues and the country is the subject of a ‘red flag’ by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

In the first eight months of this year, there were 120 air accidents in Russia involving civil aircraft operated by Russian airlines.

This is more than double the number in recent years despite significantly fewer flights as a result of Putin’s war against Ukraine.

Western sanctions have hit the supplies of aircraft spare parts to Russia.

In October, a giant Russian military plane exploded in a fireball as it took off from a remote airbase carrying a mystery cargo.

The 164ft Il-76 plane was on the runway when an engine erupted in flames, according to reports.

The aircraft rolled off the runway as the inferno spread, with dramatic video from the scene showing the 72-tonne jet engulfed in flames. 

The crew and any passengers escaped before the blaze gripped the hulking military transporter, said reports.

There are believed to have been eight on board moving an unspecified military cargo.

Footage showed the burning Russian defence ministry aircraft at Ayni airbase near capital Dushanbe in ex-Soviet republic Tajikistan. It is also known as Gissar air base. 

From another angle, the plane was shown earlier today looking for a place to land

The bright glow of the fire could be seen high above Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, in the early morning

The plane’s engine caught fire just minutes after taking off from an airport in Siberia

And then in April, a Russian military plane burst into flames and crashed into a lake in a north-western region of Russia that borders Finland.

The military plane crashed in the Murmansk region after catching fire, the TASS news agency said at the time.

The MIG-31 fighter jet, said to be on a training flight, ‘crashed in an uninhabited area,’ TASS quoted the ministry as saying. 

The pilots ejected, the agency added, and were found ‘alive and well’ after the drama.

An eyewitness said the plane was already engulfed in flames as it took off. ‘The plane took off and everything was already on fire,’ the witness told news outlet Readovka. 

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