Officials stated that a Russian passenger Airbus A320 traveling from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to the Siberian city of Omsk made an emergency landing in a Siberian field on Tuesday.
Western sanctions over Moscow’s Ukraine offensive have taken a heavy toll on Russia’s aviation.
Authorities said there were no casualties after the Ural Airlines plane crashed in a field near a forest in the Novosibirsk region.
The plane’s slides were out, and people stood in the field around it.
“At 05.44 Moscow time (0244GMT) an unscheduled landing of a Ural Airlines A320 plane flying along the Sochi-Omsk route was successfully carried out”, said Rosaviatsia, Moscow’s aviation agency.
The landing took place on a site selected from the air near the village of Kamenka, in Siberia’s Novosibirsk region, according to the statement.
“According to the crew, there are 159 passengers and six crew members onboard”, the statement reads.
“All passengers are housed in the nearest village”, the agency continued, adding that none of them had sought medical assistance.
Russian Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal investigation into the infringement of air traffic safety regulations.
It was stated that the airplane made the emergency landing for a technical reason.
Due to Western sanctions, Russia’s aviation industry has been struggling to obtain new parts to repair jets.
Ural Airlines is a Russian domestic airline based in Yekaterinburg.
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