Russian aircraft makes emergency landing in field

On Thursday August 15^th an aircraft of Ural Airlines had to make an emergency landing in a field where corn was being grown. The aircraft had just taken off from a nearby airport in Zhukovsky and was on route to the city of Simferopol, also in Russia. It had 234 passengers on board and there were no injuries. The incident was most likely caused by a bird strike. Online images and videos show that passengers panicked at first, but then left the aircraft calmly and typically carrying their hand luggage.

The possible cause of the incident

The emergency landing was necessary because 2 engines of the aircraft had stopped working. This was most likely caused by birds. Later, Russian authorities claimed that an illegal waste disposal site that had been found nearby could be linked to the accident. The birds that caused the accident, most likely gulls, could have been attracted by this site. Earlier, complaints had been made about birds being attracted to the illegal location but is unclear how the authorities dealt with this.

The pilots

No matter what the cause of the incident, the actions of the pilots have been defined as heroic. They will most likely be distinguished and honored by the Russian authorities.

Bird strikes

Bird strikes are common in many countries, but in some more than in others. Russia states that bird strikes are very common in the country although no particular reason can be mentioned for this. Another famous bird strike took place with the US Airways flight 1549, which had to make an, eventually successful, emergency landing near the Hudson river in New York on January 15^th, 2009. The flight had collided with a group of geese. The captain of that flight, Chesley Sullenburger, became a national hero.