Two Russian passenger planes were forced to return to their departure airports because of engine failure after takeoff, according to reports, in the latest setback for Russia's sanctions-hit aviation industry.
The Russian aviation Telegram channel Aviatorshchina reported that in recent days, a Ural Airlines plane returned to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and that a Boeing 737 from NordStar Airlines had to return to Volgograd following mechanical issues.
Newsweek has contacted the airlines as well as Rosaviatsia, Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport, for comment by email.
Why It Matters
Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine spurred the U.S. and the EU to impose sanctions on Russia's aircraft, two-thirds of which were manufactured by Boeing and Airbus. The measures, which include banning the maintenance of the aircraft and the supply of new planes, are likely to continue the deterioration of Russia's aviation industry.
What To Know
Ural Airlines said on January 3 that an engine failed on its Airbus A321 flying from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg at an altitude of 13,000 feet.
The plane circled before returning to its departure airport on one engine and passengers were put on another plane that afternoon.
Footage filmed on board the aircraft was posted by news outlet 360.ru and in it the flight attendants instructed passengers "there may be several bumps when landing, stay in a safe position until new commands."
A day earlier, a NordStar Airlines Boeing 737 flying to Yekaterinburg returned to Volgograd after it suffered an engine failure at more than 33,000 feet, Aviatorshchina reported.
The plane's 164 passengers were transferred to another plane that arrived from Moscow, facing delays of more than six hours. Both airlines said that their planes involved in the incidents were taken out of circulation for technical inspection.
Before the new year, a UTair Airlines Antonov An-24 turboprop aircraft flying from Roshchino in the Leningrad region to Krasnoselkup in the Tyumen region landed successfully on December 30 although it had an engine failure as it approached the runway, the outlet Nashgorod reported.
What People Are Saying
Ural Airlines press service on January 3: "The crew of Ural Airlines successfully landed an aircraft with a failed engine."
What Happens Next
Rosaviatsia, Russia's Federal Agency for Air Transport, has tried to address the issue of maintaining passenger aircraft by allowing airlines to "cannibalize" its planes by removing serviceable spare parts from some airliners to install them on others.
However, sanctions will continue taking a toll on Russian aviation with the country's commercial fleet of over 1,000 before the start of the war in Ukraine, predicted to be less than half that number by 2026, according to analysis firm Oliver Wyman.
Meanwhile the risk to passenger safety could increase, with independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazyeta reporting there were 208 aircraft incidents in the year through November—nearly one-third more than for the same period the previous year.
Even once the war is over, Western companies may be hesitant to do business with Russia's aviation industry because of the country prohibiting leased Western aircraft from leaving Russia, essentially expropriating the planes, Oliver Wyman said.
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