A Ural Airlines plane carrying over 200 people managed to land in a cornfield near a Moscow airport after a flock of birds hit the plane's engines. The pilot and crew have been hailed as heroes for saving the passengers.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/RU-RTR Russian Television
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A passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after colliding with a flock of birds shortly after taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky Airport.
The Ural Airlines flight was en route to Simferopol in Crimea when a flock of gulls hit both engines on the Airbus A321, causing them to malfunction, the Rosaviatsia air transport agency said in a statement.
The pilots managed to land the plane in a cornfield around 1 kilometer away from the runway. The jet was carrying 226 passengers and a crew of seven, all of whom were able to be evacuated using inflatable ramps.
At least 23 people were injured and have been taken to the hospital, Russian health authorities said. The majority of them have since been released.
Footage from the scene showed the crew directing passengers away from the planeImage: Imago Images/ITAR-TASS/Russian Emergency Situations Ministry
'The pilot is a genius'
Passengers and Russian officials have hailed the pilots and crew as heroes for their quick response, saying it likely saved the lives of those on board.
"We congratulate the hero pilots who saved people's lives," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ural Airlines praised the captain of the plane, 41-year-old Damir Yusupov, saying he has over 3,000 hours of flying experience.
"Everyone is alive! The pilot is a genius," a passenger identified as Olga told tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. She added that applause broke out following the landing.
Russia's investigative committee said it has opened an investigation into the incident. Aviation experts have raised safety concerns about the growing number of birds gathering at illegal dumping sites near Moscow's airports.
DW takes a look at a few of the most deadly and significant plane crashes in Europe in the 21st century.
Image: AP/Toshihiko Sato
European aviation disasters of the 21st century: Germanwings Airbus A320
A Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed into the French Alps on March 24, 2015 during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. All 144 passengers and six crew members were killed. A co-pilot with mental problems intentionally crashed the plane.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Rebels in eastern Ukraine were accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, 193 of them Dutch. A Dutch investigation found pro-Russian rebels shot the plane down with a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from separatist territory in eastern Ukraine.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Dunand
Polish President Lech Kaczynski killed
A Polish air force plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed near the Russian airport of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. A Russian and Polish investigation found pilot error during landing in thick fog caused the crash that killed more than 90 people. Jaroslaw Kaczynski (pictured), the twin brother of Lech and leader of the ruling PiS, has suggested the crash was a political assassination.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Kaminski
Air France Flight 447
An Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. It took nearly two years for the black box (pictured) to be recovered from the bottom of the ocean. The investigation found a combination of technical and pilot error caused the crash.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Spanair Flight 5022
A Spanair MD-82 plane crashed after take-off from Madrid airport on August 20, 2008, killing 154 people. Amazingly, 18 people survived the crash and subsequent fire. The crash was caused by an improper flap and slat configuration and a failure of the pilots to follow a pre-flight checklist.
Image: AP
Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612
A Russian passenger plane operated by Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise crashed near the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on August 22, 2006, killing all 170 people aboard. The plane was flying from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.
Image: AP
Helios Airways Flight 522
A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus crashed on August 14, 2005 near its destination Athens, killing all 121 on board. The crash was caused by a loss of cabin pressurization that immobilized the crew. The plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
Image: AP
Überlingen mid-air collision
On the night of July 1, 2002, a DHL cargo plane flying near the southern German town of Überlingen struck a Russian passenger jet carrying mostly schoolchildren to Barcelona, Spain. The two men aboard the DHL plane and all 69 passengers and crew on Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 perished. Swiss air traffic control firm Skyguide was found to be at fault for the tragedy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Haid
SAS Flight 686
On October 8, 2001 a Scandinavian Airlines MD-87 airliner collided with a small Cessna on take-off from Milan's Linate Airport. All 114 people on the SAS and Cessna aircraft were killed, as were four people on the ground. The accident happened in thick fog. The SAS plane crashed into a hangar.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Ansa
Air France Concorde Flight
On July 25, 2000 an Air France Concorde flight from Paris to New York crashed two minutes after take-off, killing 109 people on board and four people on the ground. The crash was caused by the Concorde running over a piece of debris on the runway, which sent tire debris into part of the fuel tank that burst into flames.
