Miracle in Siberia: What We Know About Ural Airlines A320's Wheat Field Landing
11:52 GMT 12.09.2023 (Updated: 12:16 GMT 12.09.2023)
© Sputnik / Vladimir Nikolaev
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In August 2019, an Ural Airlines A321 made an incredible emergency landing in a cornfield near Moscow after colliding with a flock of birds, with all 233 passengers and crew making it out alive. Almost exactly four years on, another plane from the same airline has made a similarly astonishing and safe landing. Here’s what we know about it.
An Ural Airlines Airbus A320 flying from Sochi to Omsk made an emergency landing in a wheat field about 180 km from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on Tuesday morning after suffering a hydraulic failure.
After discovering the problem, ground control initially sought to divert the aircraft to Novosibirsk’s international airport, but, fearing that the landing gear’s brakes might fail upon touchdown, the pilots made the decision to touch down in in a sparsely populated rural area instead.
Ambulances and fire service crews and an Ministry of Emergency Situations helicopter were immediately dispatched to the area where the plane landed, preparing for the worst.
But thanks to the professionalism of the plane’s pilots and crew, all 159 passengers and 6 crew members emerged from the accident almost completely unscathed, with one person seeking medical attention related to an increase in blood pressure, another suffering an asthma attack, and two others sustaining bruises.
The A320 itself appeared to have emerged with only minor damage as well, with its fuselage, wings and even landing gear fully intact, and passengers and crew evacuating from emergency hatches using on board inflatable slides.
Authorities in Novosibirsk and Omsk made preparations to provide passengers with emergency shelter and transport, with nearly all of the passengers leaving the scene of the incident after medical checkups. Ural Airlines has promised to pay passengers 100,000 rubles (about $1,050) in compensation for any distress they may have suffered.
'Everyone Prayed'
Yana, an Omsk resident returning from Sochi together with her son after a vacation, told Sputnik about the tense but calm atmosphere on board the flight after passengers were informed about the trouble on the plane and prepared for a hard landing.
"We were told that we were going to land in Omsk. The landing didn’t take place, we flew to Novosibirsk. Then we were told that we'd be doing an emergency landing. The flight attendants began showing us how to properly bunch together, what we'll need to do, about the emergency exits," the woman recalled. "Everyone prayed, I was holding my child," she added.
After touchdown, "everyone quickly got up, went down the plane’s steps and just ran," Yana said, adding that the landing wasn’t very hard, and that passengers emerged from the plane in a calm and orderly fashion. The crew acted very professionally throughout the emergency, with flight attendants helping passengers, reassuring them and explaining how the landing would take place, the woman noted.
Maria, another passenger, told Sputnik that the landing "went quite well…maybe even more comfortably than it does at the airport…There weren’t any unusual sounds, there was no impact with the ground either, it happened very softly."
When everyone got off, the first thing they saw was "a field of wheat,” the woman recalled. "My first thought was that I can call my mother and tell her I’m alive. When all this was happening on the plane the only thought was: how will it all end." Maria also praised the crew, saying they did a "perfect job."
Meet the Pilots
Omsk Governor Vitaly Khotsenko called the pilots of the emergency-stricken plane "real heroes!" Ural Airlines said the professionalism and coordinated actions of the pilots and flight attendants made it possible for the landing to take place without tragic consequences.
Media soon learned names of the pilots. Flight commander Sergey Belov is a 32-year-old career pilot, born in Tbilisi in 1990 and coming from a family of aviators. Belov’s grandfather was a military pilot, serving as a navigator of a squadron of Tu-16 strategic missile carriers. His father mastered a series of Soviet passenger jetliners, including the Yak-40, the Tu-134, and the Tu-154, becoming a flight commander at the age of 28. In 1989, his father was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for courage and professionalism during an emergency takeoff from the Odessa Airport. He ended up working as an instructor with Ural Airlines alongside his son.
"I just can’t imagine another profession for myself, and dream of continuing my family’s famous flying dynasty," Ural Airlines quoted Sergey Belov as saying in his autobiography.
The second pilot's name is Eduard Semyonov. He is a 56-year-old career aviator, and graduate from the Minsk Aviation Technical School of Civil Aviation and the Ulyanovsk Institute of Civil Aviation. He has been working for Ural Airlines since 2013.
The pilots of the Ural Airlines Airbus which made an emergency touchdown in a wheat field in Novosibirsk region after a hydraulic failure. Flight commander Sergei Belov (left) and second pilot Eduard Semyonov (right).
© Sputnik / Russian Emergency Situations Ministry
/ Also on board were flight attendants Daria Glushakova (34), Aisha Gummetova (22), Dmitry Kostylev (31), and Dmitry Ryabov (27).
Authorities Start Probes
As mentioned, the culprit behind the emergency landing is assumed to be a faulty hydraulic system. In a press conference after the incident, Ural Airlines CEO Sergei Skuratov explained that the "green" hydraulic system of the Airbus's green/yellow/blue hydraulic circuit scheme, responsible for flight controls, the landing gear, brakes, and nose wheel steering, had suffered a failure.
Russia’s Investigative Committee and aviation authorities have opened investigations into the incident, with the Ural and West Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office conducting inspections. Investigators promise to release their findings at a later date.
Illustration of the color-coded hydraulic systems onboard Airbus jetliners.
© Photo : Researchgate / Philippe Collin
Second Miracle Landing in a Field by Ural Airlines Pilots
Tuesday’s incident was the second time in just over four years that an Ural Airlines jetliner made a casualty-free emergency landing in a field. On August 15, 2019, an Ural Airlines Airbus A321 with 226 passengers and seven crewmembers on board flying from Moscow to Simferopol made an emergency landing in a cornfield about 35 km southeast of Moscow after striking a flock of gulls shortly after takeoff. Everyone made it out alive, with 74 people sustaining minor injuries.
President Putin awarded the flight commander and second pilot of the A321 Hero of Russia medals, with the rest of the crew awarded Order of Courage medals.
After learning about Tuesday’s incident, attendees of the Eastern Economic Forum, where Putin gave a plenary speech, stood up and applauded.
Tracks left by the Ural Airlines Airbus in a local wheat field in Novosibirsk, Siberia after an emergency touchdown.
© Sputnik / Vladimir Nikolaev
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