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06th May 2019

Heroic flight attendant died evacuating passengers from burning plane

Maxim Moiseev stayed inside the plane until everyone else escaped to the runway

Oli Dugmore

An Aeroflot plane burns on the runway at Sheremetyevo International airport in Moscow, Russia.

Maxim Moiseev stayed inside the plane until everyone else escaped onto the runway

41 people have died after a fire broke out on a Russian plane during an emergency landing.

The aircraft made an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow and a dramatic Instagram story shows it being engulfed by fire as it travels down the runway.

Passengers evacuated once the vehicle came to a stop and one heroic member of the crew died assisting them.

Maxim Moiseev, 22, tried to force open the rear emergency exit while his colleagues evacuated toward the front, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Moiseev was unable to open the back exit and began pushing passengers toward the inflatable ramp at the front.

A witness told Tass: “He was trying to open the rear exit door to quickly evacuate the passengers from the tail that was ablaze.

“He didn’t succeed and started helping people to leave the plane.”

The anonymous source said Moiseev died in the fire.

33 people survived the accident and several people are in hospital in a critical condition. Most of those dead are believed to have been killed by smoke inhalation.

Yelena Markovskaya, an official investigating the incident, said: “There are 37 survivors, 33 passengers and four members of the crew.”

Russian media reports the plane made an emergency landing for “technical reasons.” Its fuel tanks were full on landing and it’s reported the crew decided it too dangerous to ditch fuel over Moscow, havin

g lost contact with air traffic control.

A distress signal was sent from the plane shortly after take-off at 6.02pm local time due to “malfunctions.”

Russia’s transport minister Yevgeny Dietrich said the Sukhoi Superjet 100 would not be grounded.