Russian passengers pray and children scream in terror as plane suffers sudden depressurisation and oxygen masks drop in country's third flight horror in three days

Passengers were captured praying and screaming in terror as a plane suffered sudden depressurisation with oxygen masks released in Russia's third flight horror in as many days. 

The 111 people on board were seen uttering prayers and screaming in terror as the crew on board the Airbus A319 lost height to cope with the emergency after taking off from thermal resort Mineralnye Vody, before plunging into an emergency landing.  

Terrifying footage shows the masks being released on the state-owned Rossiya airline aircraft, which was headed to St Petersburg. 

One passenger described the scary moment that the masks overhead dropped around 20 minutes into the flight. 

'We started to drop sharply', they said. 'Everyone's masks dropped down over their heads'.

Another said everyone was 'stressed' revealing that 'children were screaming [and] women were praying'. 

Another praised the crew, telling Fontanka news: 'It was very scary. But the stewardesses were fearless, carrying water [to passengers]. They smiled'. 

According to reports, the plan returned 'safely' to the same airport it had taken off from, where it was met by fire crews and ambulances. 

Russia is in the midst of an unprecedented spate of air incidents, with reports suggesting Western sanctions are hampering the servicing and maintenance of planes, with problems obtaining spare parts.

Just a day earlier, 'micro-explosions' led to fires in both engines of a Boeing 737 S7 airline plane bound for Moscow from Nobosibirsk, Russia's third largest city. 

Passengers on board said the fires began as the plan was on the runway taking off. 

The pilots immediately called for an emergency landing and brought the aircraft down safely at Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo Airport with no casualties among passengers or crew. 

The captain told the passengers on landing that both engines were 'out of order' and the aircraft needed to be towed from the runaway after the brakes overheated. 

And a day prior, a Tu-204 cargo aircraft was involved in an engine 'explosion' heard from the ground after take off from Ulan-Ude, Siberia. 

Frightening footage showed the aircraft ablaze as it jettisoned fuel and was forced to make an emergency landing. 

An investigation is underway by the East Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office. 

Since 2022, airlines in Russia have been asking staff not to enter equipment defects in flight log books, according to reports. 

In the first eight months of this year, there were 120 air accidents in Russia involving civil aircraft operated by Russian airlines. Ut's more than double the number in recent years, despite significantly fewer flights as a result of the ongoing war with Ukraine.