A Russian passenger plane has made an emergency landing in a cornfield near Moscow after striking a flock of birds.
At least 74 people were injured in the incident, which saw the plane land with its engines off and landing gear retracted, emergency officials said.
The Ural Airlines Airbus 321 was travelling to Simferopol in Crimea when it hit the flock of gulls shortly after take-off, disrupting its engines.
State media has dubbed the landing the “miracle over Ramensk”.
The Kremlin on Thursday hailed the pilots as heroes for “saving people’s lives and landing the plane”. A spokesman said they would receive state awards soon.
An unnamed passenger told state TV the plane started to shake violently after take-off.
“Five seconds later, the lights on the right side of the plane started flashing and there was a smell of burning. Then we landed and everyone ran away,” he said.
Air transport agency Rosaviatsia said the plane landed in a cornfield about a kilometre (0.62 miles) from the runway at Zhukovsky International Airport, with its engines off and landing gear retracted.
Bird strikes can take down any plane. The powerful engines sucks in a flock and its almost immediately engine flameout at the worst possible time. Landings and take off. Zero time to respond and manoeuvre. The pilots did well. However now focus shifts to the airport operators. There are many ways you can scare birds away from airports. From the rudimentary ways of strategically putting fake hawks and eagles on the flight path that’s scares away ducks. Other modern methods are available as well.
Comparisons are good but you have to be aware of mitigating circumstances. Half of Russia is frozen most of the year. It is also heavily populated and HUGE, which makes air travel a necessity. In such conditions, accidents are bound to happen. E.g. When northern Americans go to the south, a good majority of the refuse to drive (granted rednecks have a dismal respect for traffic laws), but they all drive like maniacs.
In addition, how do you account for migrating sea gulls? Unless you tag every one of them with radar receptive doohickies… Remember this:
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[li]Sully: Miracle on the Hudson 10 years on[/li][/ul]