Russian passenger plane escapes missile fire over Syria

An aircraft belonging to the Russian charter air carrier Nordwind Airlines with 200 passengers aboard was flying over Syria from the Egyptian Sinai town of Sharm el-Sheikh Monday when it was targeted by two ground-to-air missiles. The pilots managed to maneuver the plane to safety without damage or casualties. It landed at its destination at the town of Kazan in the Russian republic of Tatarstan. An informed source in Moscow said the missiles launched by an unidentified force exploded in the air very close to the aircraft. They were obviously intentionally targeted but it was not clear whether the attackers knew the plane was Russian.