Aeroflot Reportedly Flying Nine Airliners Without Brakes (Clarified)

Aerotime says the Moscow Times is reporting that Aeroflot has deactivated the brakes on at least six widebody airliners and three single-aisle because it can't get replacements for worn-out parts due to trade sanctions. Pilots have been told to compensate for the missing brakes when landing. Aerotime apparently translated the Moscow Times story and some associated memos from Aeroflot and reported the planes are allowed to fly with the deactivated brakes for up to 10 days, but it's not clear what will happen when the time is up. It's an accepted practise to deactivate the brakes on one or more wheels on multi-wheel trucks but it's not clear the extent to which Aerflot is doing it

Aviatorschina got hold of Aeroflot's memo to pilots on the move, but it doesn't offer much clarity, except that performance penalties are expected. “The aircraft will tend to turn to the side where the brakes are not deactivated," the translated memo reportedly says. "Pay attention to this fact, especially when landing on a wet runway with a crosswind!!! There are restrictions on the width of the runway. The risk of overrunning the runway!!!” Five Boeing 777s, an A330, two A321s and an A320 are currently flying without brakes according to the memos and reports.

An earlier version of this story did not add the context that airliner brakes are sometimes deactivated to defer the maintenance on one or more wheels.