Russian Airbus A320 makes emergency landing in Siberian field
- Ural Airlines plane with 167 people on board was flying from Sochi to Omsk in Siberia
- Investigators said the Airbus A320 made an emergency landing ‘for a technical reason’
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A Russian passenger Airbus A320 flying from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to the Siberian city of Omsk with 167 people on board made an emergency landing in a Siberian field on Tuesday, officials said.
Russia’s aviation has been hard hit by Western sanctions over Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.
Authorities released footage of the Ural Airlines plane in a field next to a forest in the Novosibirsk region, saying there were no casualties.
The plane had its slides out and people stood in the field outside it.
“At 05.44 Moscow time (0244GMT) an unscheduled landing of a Ural Airlines A320 plane flying along the Sochi-Omsk route, was successfully carried out,” Moscow’s aviation agency Rosaviatsia said in a statement.
It said the landing took place “on a site selected from the air” near the village of Kamenka, in Siberia’s Novosibirsk region.
“According to the crew, there are 159 passengers and six crew members on board,” it said.
“All passengers are housed in the nearest village,” the agency said, adding that none of them sought medical help.
Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the violation of air traffic safety rules.
It said the aircraft made the emergency landing “for a technical reason”.
Russia’s aviation industry has been struggling to get new parts to repair planes due to Western sanctions.
Ural Airlines is a domestic Russian airline based in the city of Yekaterinburg.
