A Russian airline crew pulled off an amazing emergency landing on Tuesday. According to Russian media, the Alrosa Airlines Tu-154’s “power supply, fuel pumps, radio link and navigation equipment failed” and the only available airport was at Izhma, whose only runway is 4,500 feet long. Initial reports say the engines were inoperable but later reports indicate a complete electrical failure but the engines may have kept running. The crew descended from 35,000 feet, put down on the short runway and overran it by 600 feet. Although the aircraft suffered some damage, all 72 passengers and nine crew were uninjured.
The flight originated in Polyarny, Siberia, and was headed to Moscow. So far there’s been no explanation of how virtually everything on the aircraft could shut down, if that’s what actually happened. The passengers and crew were put up in a school building while the airline figured out how to get them to Moscow.
