INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A pilot has been blamed for the deaths of 41 people in a crash landing at Moscow Airport earlier this year, Russian media said.Following an
investigation into the May plane crash, Russia's Investigative Committee plans to charge pilot Denis Evdokimov with causing death by
negligence, the Kommersant Daily said.The state body, which investigates major crimes, has laid the blame with the pilot without waiting for
the final conclusions of the Interstate Aviation Committee, a source close to the first committee said.Image:The plane bounced along the
runway before bursting into flamesImage:The back half of the plane was engulfed in fireMr Evdokimov denies the charges, his lawyer Natalia
Mitusova said.She added that requests for independent examinations into the incident have been rejected.On 5 May, the Aeroflot Sukhoi
Superjet 100 caught fire while making a bumpy emergency landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.Footage showed it bouncing on the tarmac
before the back of the plane burst into flames, while black smoke streamed out the back.Thirty-three of the 73 passengers and five crew,
travelling from Moscow to the northern city of Murmansk, escaped on the aircraft's inflatable emergency slides.Cabin crew were hailed as
heroes, with two of them kicking open emergency exits as the plane landed.Passengers leap out of burning planeFlight attendant Maxim
Moiseev, 22, reportedly died in the flames as he remained inside the plane to push passengers towards the inflatable ramp.At the time
Aeroflot said the plane was forced to turn back after taking off from Sheremetyevo for "technical reasons".Russia's Interfax news agency
said the plane was thought to have been hit by lightning shortly after take-off - disabling the radio and other systems.It added the plane
had tanks full of fuel when it made its landing just 20 minutes after take-off.Image:41 people died in the fireImage:Half the Aeroflot plane
was burnedThe plane was said to have bumped the runway three times, causing fuel from the tanks to spill and flare, engulfing the back of
the main body of the aircraft in flames.In October, the Investigative Committee said the pilot had violated established rules.Svetlana
Petrenko, a representative of the committee, said: "Further actions of Evdokimov to control the aircraft, carried out in violation of
established rules, caused the destruction and igniting of the aircraft, resulting in the death of 40 passengers and one crew member."
