Eight injured evacuating Armenia-bound plane at Moscow airport (video)

 July 19, 2019 - 11:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Eight passengers were injured while evacuating a Yerevan, Armenia-bound Boeing 737 aircraft at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after midnight on Friday, July 19, FRE/RL reports.

As the Nordwind Flight N4477 was preparing for takeoff on the runway, a strange smell was noticed, the airlines said in a statement.

As the crew informed airport authorities, the pilot taxied the plane off the runway before cutting the engines.

The plane never caught on fire, although earlier reports said smoke had filled the cabin.

Eight passengers suffered injuries while descending inflated chutes.

Nordwind and Russian authorities said there were 173 passengers on board, 11 of whom were children.

There were also six crew members.

One passenger was hospitalized, Sheremetyevo airport spokeswoman Anna Zakharenkova told Interfax.

Emergency services authorities gave a conflicting figure of 187 people on board.

Passengers wishing to do so were put on a substitute flight that departed early on July 19, the airline said.