New footage of the Russian jet inferno shows the plane bouncing along the tarmac at a Moscow airport before bursting into flames.
Forty-one people died onboard Aeroflot flight SU1492, which made an emergency landing at the city’s Sheremetyevo airport on 5 May.
Video that has just emerged shows the "jumping landing", where the jet kangaroos down the runway before the plane ignites.
It’s understood that the Sukhoi Superjet 100 was hit by lightning shortly after take-off, which turned off the aircraft's generators.
The plane then turned back, and landed heavily back at the departure airport 28 minutes later.
Speaking with Russian media, members of the crew confirmed the plane had been hit by lightning and lost radio communications prior to returning to the airport.
“There was a bright flash and a bang,” pilot Denis Evdokimov is quoted as saying. “The fire began after landing, I understand, because of the landing.”
The investigation into the crash is leaning towards “pilot error” over the landing, and an “over-dependence on autopilot”.
After the plane was hit by lightning, the situation onboard was reportedly problematic, but not dangerous.
According to the local Kommersant newspaper: “Now the investigation is to establish which of the two pilots performed the dangerous manoeuvre that cost 41 lives.”
The Independent has asked Aeroflot for comment.
