Shocking Video Shows Plane Skidding off Runway – Right Toward Gas Station

A terrifying scene unfolded at a Russian airport when a passenger plane’s landing gear collapsed mid-landing, sending the aircraft skidding off the runway in a shower of sparks — and narrowly missing a gas station.

The dramatic incident happened Monday in Irkutsk, Siberia, as a Soviet-era Antonov An-24 turboprop operated by Angara Airlines attempted to land with 46 passengers and five crew members aboard.

Security footage from the airport shows the moment the plane’s front wheel gave out, causing the aircraft to nosedive and scrape along the tarmac. Sparks shot into the air as the metal fuselage dragged across the runway, heading dangerously close to a nearby gas station.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:

“It tilted forward suddenly and there was this grinding noise,” passenger Marina Sinkova told Russian outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda. “I looked out the window and saw sparks bursting from under the plane. Women and children were screaming.”

Sinkova said that in the chaos, she feared the worst. “The only thought in my head was, ‘Please don’t let us crash into the gas station.’ When the plane finally stopped in the grass, I thought, thank God we’re alive.”

Miraculously, everyone on board survived without serious injuries.

The Antonov An-24, a plane designed in the 1950s, has one of the worst safety records in aviation history, with more than 150 crashes and over 2,000 fatalities since entering service.

After the emergency landing, footage showed the damaged aircraft resting nose-down in a grassy area beside the runway. All passengers were safely evacuated, and Russia’s East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the incident is under investigation.

The airport was temporarily shut down following the crash but reopened the next day. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has classified the event as a serious aviation incident.