This is the wing and a scare moment a plane's landing gear collapses and it skids off a runway towards a petrol station in a shower of sparks.

The Russian Antonov An-24 turbo prop was trying to land in Kirensk, Irkutsk Oblast, on 26th May with 46 passengers on board when the front wheel snapped off.

Horrifying CCTV footage from the airport shows the Angara Airlines plane skidding out of control trailing a shower of sparks as the fuselage scrapes along the tarmac.

Terrifyingly, say passengers, they could see the plane had veered off the runway and was heading straight towards a petrol station just outside the airport.

One passenger Marina Sinkova told local media: "A sharp nose-down tilt, a jolt, and then a grinding noise as the metal fuselage scraped along the asphalt.

"I looked out the window and saw sparks burst out from under the front of the aircraft.

"Women and children were screaming 'Mother!' out of fear."

She added: "When, it became clear what was happening, there was only one thought in my head, 'Please don't let the plane crash into the petrol station'.

"Then when I looked out of the window again, the plane stopped. There was a grass around. Thank goodness it was over. We're alive!"

Later footage shows the plane nose down in the grass after the pilot had ordered an emergency evacuation for the 46 passengers and five crew members.

The aircraft had been making a one hour 40 minute shuttle flight from Irkutsk.

The East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office, investigating air safety negligence, confirmed the nose gear had collapsed causing the plane to overshoot the runway.

Rosaviatsia, the Federal Air Transport Agency, classified the event as a serious aviation incident and launched an investigation.

The airport reopened shortly afterwards.

The 1950s-designed Soviet-era Antonov An-24 has one of the worst flight safety records in the world.

Official records show it has been involved in 159 crashes causing more than 2,000 fatalities since it came into service in 1957.

(MJ Leidig/newsX)