No Injuries In A320 Off-Airport Landing

There were no injuries among 167 people onboard an Airbus A320 that landed in an open field about 100 miles west of Novosibirsk on Tuesday. The aircraft was originally headed for Omsk, about 200 miles further to the west, from Sochi but on approach to Omsk the crew reported failure of a hydraulic system. They decided to divert to Novosibirsk, reportedly because of the longer runways (11,800 feet vs. 8200 feet) but didn't make it.

So far there's been no explanation as to why the crew put down on the field, but Mentour Pilot said that local media had reported the crew "calculated that they had enough fuel for this diversion." Whatever the reason, the landing didn't seem to cause much damage to the aircraft, although it's not clear if it will be able to fly out.

It's the second time in four years that a Ural Airbus has ended up in the weeds. In 2019 an A321 carrying 233 people went through a flock of birds on takeoff from Zhukovsky Airport in Moscow and crash-landed in a cornfield about 3 miles from the runway. A total of 74 injuries were reported, but none were serious. The aircraft was written off.