On the morning of August 15, the Airbus A321 aircraft of Ural Airlines made an emergency landing immediately after departure from Zhukovsky Airport near Moscow.
The aircraft performed flight 178 along the route Zhukovsky - Simferopol. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, immediately after takeoff, the aircraft collided with a flock of seagulls, the entry of birds into the engines led to "interruptions in their work." The crew decided to make an emergency landing on a corn field near the runway. The aircraft successfully landed with the landing gear retracted and the engines turned off. Onboard were 226 passengers and seven crew members.
According to crew commander Damir Yusupov, the decision on what actions to take in this situation has changed several times. He noted that the engines failed in turn. After the first engine failed, the pilot planned to gain altitude and return to Zhukovsky. However, after the failure of the second engine, he realized that he would not be able to avoid an emergency landing.
“The decision changed several times ... I planned to gain a certain height, linger on it, work out a failure (engine. - RT ), make a decision, calculate everything. But, as it turned out later, there was little time at all. With one engine, we planned to return, ”the crew commander said.
At the same time, Yusupov noted that he made the decision not to let out the chassis, since it was safer during an emergency landing. The pilot also said that other options were considered, but he believes that he made the right choice.
“There were other options, but it’s good that we didn’t take them, because we sat down without rolls, with a normal pitch angle, softened (landing. - RT). If other attempts were made - to return - I do not know how this could end, ”said the pilot.
He also said that he did not see a large concentration of birds before take-off.
In addition, Yusupov said he did not consider himself a hero.
“Many say that it’s a hero, but honestly, I don’t feel myself at all, because I did what I had to do, I saved the plane, passengers, crew. I think this was the only solution. I don’t consider myself a hero, ”Yusupov said on the Russia 1 television channel.
"Heroes Pilots"
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov called the pilots A321 heroes.
“Passengers and crew remained alive. We wish a speedy recovery to those who have suffered, and congratulations to the hero pilots who saved the lives of people and put down the plane, ”a spokesman for the Russian president reports to RIA Novosti.
The fact that the catastrophe was avoided thanks to the professionalism of the crew, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
“We had an accident. Thanks to the very skillful action of the crew, the disaster was prevented, the deaths were prevented, ”Medvedev said at a government meeting on Tuesday.
He noted that a special commission should be sorted out in the reasons for what happened. Medvedev also indicated that pilots should be presented for awards.
“Obviously, the actions of the crew deserve the highest praise. Based on the results of the consideration of this situation, it will probably be necessary to prepare documents on how to submit them for state awards, ”he said.
Team Professionalism
The professionalism and coherence of the crew was highly appreciated by officials and experts. So, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko noted that the team acted "competently, professionally and courageously."
“The crew made the only right decision in such a situation - to land directly in front of themselves on a corn field,” the official told TASS.
At the same time, crew members showed professionalism not only directly during landing, but also after it, when organizing the evacuation of passengers from an airplane.
- The pilot is evacuating
Former designer of Sukhoi Design Bureau Vadim Lukashevich in an interview with RT noted that the pilots had an extremely difficult task.
“Brilliant action. It can be seen that the birds fell almost at the end of the run, they had no choice but to try to take off ... They could roll over, break, because the plane just took off, it had fuel to Simferopol, and maybe on the way back. His weight is obviously higher than the maximum landing ... Pilots worked elegantly, ”he commented on the situation.
Vadim Bazykin, test pilot, honored pilot of Russia and general director and co-owner of CJSC Airline Spark +, agrees with him.
“The crew looked great in this situation, takeoff is the most difficult part of the flight ... When a failure occurs at such altitudes, then there are still time and speed limits. The crew performed the actions flawlessly, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.
The commander of the aircraft that made an emergency landing is 41-year-old Damir Yusupov. In 2013, he graduated with honors from the Buguruslan Flight School of Civil Aviation, after which he joined the Ural Airlines. He became the aircraft commander in 2018, the total time of his flight exceeds 3,000 hours. Yusupov is married, he has two children.
The co-pilot, George Murzin, began working at the airline only last year. The pilot is 23 years old, in 2017 he graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation. Its total flight time is over 600 hours, reports TASS.
The governor of the Sverdlovsk region Yevgeny Kuyvashev posted on his Instagram a list of crew A321.
“The heroic crew of the Ural Airlines flight: FAC - Damir Yusupov, co-pilot - George Murzin, senior cabin crew - Dmitry Ivlitsky, cabin crew - Nadezhda Vershinina, cabin crew - Dmitry Goncharenko, cabin crew - Alia Slyakaeva, cabin crew - Yana Yalodina” liner team composition.
Eyewitness accounts
Eyewitnesses told RT emergency landing details. According to them, immediately after take-off, they heard a characteristic engine sound that could not start.
“We did not begin to gain the normal height, which should be. Began to gradually fall. A characteristic sound periodically arose: when it tries to start, but does not start at all. Hard landing, silence ... We were not warned - in the sense that get ready. Maybe a lot of films were watched with this. There was nothing like that, we just realized that everything was there. I have a small child, three years old, I pressed her to the seat so that she would not shake, although she was fastened, ”the passenger shared her impressions.
At the same time, she is sure that the main pilot of the aircraft did everything in his power to make a successful landing.
“We saw the field, I see that we are approaching, have already begun to group, I began to cuddle the children. But in a few seconds we realized that we were falling. He (the commander of the aircraft. - RT) worked as well as possible, landed. He must be given his due. He went out, we applauded him, we all ran to say thanks to him. I think he did everything he could, ”the girl concluded.
Some passengers claim to have seen flames while boarding.
“I saw a fire that erupted in pops. The fire was strong enough, ”one of the eyewitnesses told RT.
Assistance to victims
Of the 226 passengers on board, 74 people turned for medical help, of which 19 were children, RIA Novosti reported with reference to the Moscow Region Emergencies Ministry’s headquarters. One person is hospitalized. There are no fatalities as a result of the incident.
All passengers of the flight are insured and will receive payments, quotes TASS the words of the commercial director of the airline Kirill Skuratov. He also said that after a medical examination, passengers will be delivered to Domodedovo, where they will be delivered to Simferopol by several flights.
However, passengers eventually refused to fly to Simferopol, Zhukovsky said. 50 people returned tickets, the rest changed the departure dates.
To gallery page
Incident investigation
The Ural Transport Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation into the emergency landing of the aircraft, the statement said on the organization’s website. Earlier, the inspection was initiated by the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office.
The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport, told RIA Novosti in the press service of the department.
“The investigating authorities of the Moscow Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 1 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport) on the fact of a hard landing of a passenger plane following the flight "Moscow - Simferopol", - specified in the UK.
Specialists have already taken black boxes from the plane, they will be sent for examination.
“The boxes have been seized and will be sent for decryption to the Interstate Aviation Committee,” TASS said, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.