"Russian plane goes off runway in southern Portugal; no injuries reported"

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Russian plane goes off runway in southern Portugal; no injuries reported
The Associated Press


LISBON, Portugal_A Russian plane carrying at least 86 people aborted its
takeoff at Faro airport in southern Portugal on Tuesday and overshot the
runway, Portugal's airport management company ANA said.

ANA spokesman Rui Oliveira said there were no injuries in the accident.

The plane "went into soft earth at the end of the runway. We're starting
to pull it out now," Oliveira said by phone from ANA's Lisbon
headquarters.

He said there were 86 passengers plus an unknown number of crew members
on board. They left the plane by emergency chutes.

The aircraft was an Ilyushin IL-62, Oliveira said. He said an
investigation would be held to find out what went wrong during the
takeoff.

Those on board were believed to be Russian soccer fans in Portugal for
Euro 2004, he said. Russia played its final game on Sunday and, despite
beating Greece 2-1, was eliminated.

The plane was flying to Ekaterinburg, Russia, and was operated by
Russian charter company MPHS-Rossy.

The airport was expected to be closed for at least two hours, according
to Oliveira.

Fifteen aircraft were due to land and 15 were scheduled to take off
before the end of the day, Oliveira said.

The IL-62 is a four-engine plane which can carry at least 150 passengers
and usually has five crew.

In 1982, 10 people died when a Soviet-made Aeroflot IL-62 skidded off a
runway at Luxembourg's airport and crashed into a grove of trees.


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