Aviation expert Zabolotsky named a possible cause of the plane fire in Antalya

A rough landing of the aircraft in Antalya could have led to the destruction of the tank or fuel lines, which subsequently caused a fire. This was told to "Izvestia" by honored test pilot of the USSR, aviation expert Viktor Zabolotsky.

He suggested that the landing of the flight was made under difficult weather conditions.

"Judging by the way the passengers get out and other things, it seems that the weather conditions there are very difficult, there was a strong wind, it seems, and whether the crew coped with these conditions," the aviation expert said and added that there could have been a rough landing followed by a wing touchdown, which presumably caused damage in the plane that led to the fire.

Zabolotsky noted that if the wheels were overheated, the fire would have started in the landing gear area.

"The left side is practically on fire here, and it looks like it's burning very seriously. It seems to me that it was most likely a rough landing and as a result of this rough landing somehow something, so to speak, there was some destruction, most likely fuel lines, maybe a tank, and as a result there was this kind of fire," the Izvestia interlocutor said.

Thefire ofthe airplane of Azimut airline during landing at Antalya airport occurred on November 24. The portal AirportHaber specified that because of the incident the airport runway was temporarily closed. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties as a result of the incident, the cause of the fire is being investigated. Later, the deputy airport manager Suat Seyitoglu specified that the fire in the plane of the Russian airline Azimut was extinguished.

At the same time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia that Russian diplomats had rushed to the scene of an accident with a Russian airplane in Turkey.

Natalia, a passenger of the plane that caught fire, said that fuel began to leak after a sharp impact on landing, and then the engine caught fire. According to her, the crew of the airplane tried to calm down the passengers, who helped each other and got out of the inflamed aircraft by going down the inflatable ramp.

In turn, another passenger reported a sharp impact on landing, which caused a power outage. According to her, there was panic and crush inside the airplane during evacuation. There was a lot of smoke and a very strong smell of burning plastic. Children were supposed to be let out first, but this did not happen.