A 25-year-old man was hit and killed by a Boeing 737 during takeoff, at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. The man was being deported back to Armenia and he had escaped the police, trying to flee on the runway, The Moscow Times reports.
According to Interfax, the 737 belonged to the Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot and was en route to Athens, Greece. The pilot reported back that it had hit an “animal” during the takeoff on the runway, but didn’t ask to return to the airport since the systems didn’t record any damage.
Airport security were sent on the runway to investigate and they found human remains. It was later established that they belonged to Albert Yepremyan, 25, who had been deported from Madrid, Spain. He was on a stopover in Moscow, before boarding a plane to Yerevan, Armenia. On the flight from Madrid, he had attacked a cabin crew member and he’d been escorted by the police inside the Russian airport.
“The man went through the airport gate during boarding for a Moscow-Yerevan flight, went to the platform bus, but quickly headed toward the runway instead of getting in,” an official for the Sheremetyevo airport tells Interfax.
“On [his] flight from Madrid, Mr. Yepremyan had started a fight. After landing [in Moscow], police were called on board the plane to detain [him],” the official adds.
For some reason, the officers allowed him to travel to the bus that would take him to his flight towards Athens alone. Instead of getting on the bus, he turned and headed to the runway, where he was eventually mowed down and killed.
Interfax notes that the 737 was grounded temporarily in Athens, after security found parts of fuselage and traces of human remains inside, on the landing gear.
An investigation is now underway. Because of the accident, authorities had to close one runway at the Sheremetyevo airport, which caused some delays to other flights.
Airport security were sent on the runway to investigate and they found human remains. It was later established that they belonged to Albert Yepremyan, 25, who had been deported from Madrid, Spain. He was on a stopover in Moscow, before boarding a plane to Yerevan, Armenia. On the flight from Madrid, he had attacked a cabin crew member and he’d been escorted by the police inside the Russian airport.
“The man went through the airport gate during boarding for a Moscow-Yerevan flight, went to the platform bus, but quickly headed toward the runway instead of getting in,” an official for the Sheremetyevo airport tells Interfax.
“On [his] flight from Madrid, Mr. Yepremyan had started a fight. After landing [in Moscow], police were called on board the plane to detain [him],” the official adds.
For some reason, the officers allowed him to travel to the bus that would take him to his flight towards Athens alone. Instead of getting on the bus, he turned and headed to the runway, where he was eventually mowed down and killed.
Interfax notes that the 737 was grounded temporarily in Athens, after security found parts of fuselage and traces of human remains inside, on the landing gear.
An investigation is now underway. Because of the accident, authorities had to close one runway at the Sheremetyevo airport, which caused some delays to other flights.