Lucky Tu-154 crash landing in Komi
An Alrosa company aircraft with 72 passengers onboard made a miraculous emergency landing at a short abounded military airfield in the northern part of the Komi Republic on Tuesday.
The large aircraft lost its electrical supply on its way from Siberia to Moscow and the pilots spotted the closed airfield in Izhma, north of Ukhta in the Komi Republic. The airfield was shut down 12 years ago and is no longer listed on official flight maps.
After touchdown, the Tupolev-154 aircraft quickly overrun the 1,400 meter airfield and continues some 180 meter into the taiga-forest.
Without electrical systems, the pilots had no radio support as they prepared to land, the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement, quoted by The Moscow Times.
The 72 passengers, including three children and one pregnant woman, slid down emergency chutes and calmly bided their time, waiting for rescuers. No one was hurt. The passengers were then taken to the nearest village, fed and provided with beds for the night.
Alrosa airline is owned by Russia’s state diamond monopoly Alrosa. Since 1972, more than 1,000 Tu-154 are built, and during the 40 –year of operation period, some 40 fatal accidents involving the aircraft model.
