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CNN Sunday Morning

Russian Cargo Plane Crashes Outside Airport Near Moscow

Aired July 28, 2002 - 09:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A Russian cargo plane has apparently crashed just outside the airport in Moscow with 12 crew members on board. And CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty is standing by now with the very latest. Jill, what can you tell us?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Catherine, the latest, which we just got from the Emergency Ministry a few minutes ago is that only two people survived, two flight attendants who were on this flight. They were very seriously injured and taken immediately to the hospital.

There were 16 aboard, so that would mean 14 people died. They were all members of a crew. It was not a passenger flight. It's being described as a technical slight, which could be either training or it could be a cargo flight. We have to find that out.

In any case, it was taking off from Sheremetievo 1 Airport, which is outside of Moscow, and crashed virtually in minutes after it took off. It burst into flames. The crews came in, put out the flames and began to see who had survived.

Again, no explanation as to why this happened, but it belonged to Pulkovo Airlines, that is an airline from St. Petersburg, Russia -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: And Jill, I understand that this crash occurred very near a highway there in Moscow. Very lucky that it didn't land on the highway.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, it really is. That's a busy area in terms of airports. It's actually about an hour from the city, but there is another major airport there, which is Sheremetievo 2. And they, in fact, share runways. And that is the one that a lot of international flights, flights from New York et cetera, would come into Sheremetievo 2. So in a sense, it is lucky that nothing worse happened.

CALLAWAY: Right, OK. CNN's Jill Dougherty. Thank you, Jill, for that update.

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