A Russian airliner called Ural Airlines, pulled off a very impressive emergency landing – in a cornfield – today.
Ural Airlines A320 Makes an Emergency Landing in a Siberian Cornfield
The incident occurred on an Omsk-bound Ural Airlines flight U61383 from Sochi (AER). The fight was operated by a 19-year-old Airbus A320 registered under RA-73805.
The flight was going as scheduled when the aircraft was about to land in Omsk (OMS). However, just before the aircraft approached the runway, at about 2,000 feet in the air, the pilots initiated a go-around. The official cause of the issue is yet to be revealed by the Russian authorities, at the time of the incident, the aircraft reportedly had a hydraulics failure.
Therefore, the pilots made a decision to to divert the aircraft to Novosibirsk Airport (OVB), which was located roughly 370 miles North-East of Omsk. It appears that the pilots made this decision to divert as Novosibirsk Airport had much long runway in case the aircraft couldn’t stop due to hydraulic fault which affect the brake discs.
Upon go-around, based on the flight data, the aircraft climbed up to 18,000 feet with a ground speed of 261 knots or 300 mph as there were drags created from landing gear doors not being retracted. But the slow speed and increased surface drag with the addition of strong headwinds caused to aircradft to burn more fuel.
Worrying the aircraft running out of fuel and potentially creating bigger accident, both pilots made a decision to make an emergency landing in a field, near the village of Kamenka, around 120 miles West of Novosibirsk. The captain and first officer pulled an incredible emergency ditching in a cornfield with no major injuries reported.
All 165 passengers, including six crew members safely evacuated the aircraft.
Questions on Ural Airlines Emergency Landing
After the incident, Ural Airlines issued a message saying:
“The Airbus A320 aircraft, operating flight U6-1383 on the Sochi-Omsk route, made an emergency landing outside the airfield. The landing went well, and the crew promptly evacuated the passengers. There were 161 passengers on board, no injuries.”
“The pilot “selected” the landing site after the jet’s hydraulic systems failed while approaching Omsk.”
Thanks to both pilot’s control, nobody was hrt however, at the same time the incident sparked denials from the airline that it was unable to service its planes due to sanctions on Russia.
Russia’s aviation industry has been hit very hard with all kinds of sanctions due to Russia’s war with Ukraine. With the sanctions place, Russian airlines cannot do business with western companies including Airbus and Boeing. This is causing airlines to go to extreme as spare parts for maintenance are limited. Recently, we have seen some Aeroflot fleet flying without brakes and reusing parts from other aircraft to fix anohter.
With questions flooding about safety issues on Russian airlines, Ural Airines CEO Sergei Skuratov denied that all of his airline’s planes were serviced with genuine parts. He said:
“We will never allow incorrect spare parts to be used.”
“It’s difficult, with a fight, but all the spare parts used on our aircraft are certified.”
“I stake my head on it.”
Ural Airines CEO Sergei Skuratov
There are also some contradictions whether pilots should have ditched the aircraft. Russian aviation experts said there are back-up systems and disputed the crew’s decision to make the landing as there is no need to land the plane in a field.
Russia’s aviation accident department said it was investigating the emergency landing, and the crew had been suspended until the investigation was complete.
Ural Airlilnes Ditched in the Cornfield Back in 2019
Acually, this was not the first time the Russian airline made an emergency landing. Back in 2019, Ural AIrlines A321 suffered a bird strike shortly after take-off from Moscow and had to ditch the airccraft in a cornfield. At that time too, the pilots pulled an amazing emergency ladning and no one was injured.
Summary
An Ural Airlines Airbus A320 operating from Sochi to Omsk suffered hydraulics failure and was diverting to Novosibirsk Airport as it offered longer runway. However, due to increased fuel buring, the aircraft had shortage of fuel to reach the airprot. Consequently, the pilots had to make an emergency landing in a cornfield. Thankfully, no one was injured during the incident.
