) Nine people died when a Russian passenger plane crashed on take-off from a Moscow airport on Thursday, an Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman said.
She said it was not immediately clear what had caused the crash of the Yak-40 short-range passenger jet with five crew and four passengers on board bound from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
A guard at the airport gates said the three-engine plane crashed back into the runway soon after taking off. NTV commercial television said the fire was put out quickly.
It was not clear to whom the plane belonged.
The Sheremetyevo-1 domestic airport and Sheremetyevo-2 international airport, which share runways, were briefly closed. Both reopened around 0700 GMT.
2000 Reuters
Source: Russia Today
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=141311
-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 17, 2000