Ural Airlines performed a successful emergency landing in a Russian field, and the airline plans to attempt to take off from the very field it landed in. On September 12th, 2023, the A320 was on a routine flight from Sochi, Russia, and circled Omsk airport in Russia when for an unknown reason, they had a hydraulic failure. The flight crew intended to divert to a longer runway, however, due to the failure, the nose gear was stuck in its down position. This failure caused the plane to burn more fuel than planned in their diversion. The crew decided to perform an emergency landing in a large field. 

All 167 passengers survived the incident, however, the large airliner was left in the field. Originally, the airline planned to scrap the airplane for parts, but new speculations arose which suggested that the airline would plan to take off the plane from that field in an attempt to save the plane. These speculations were confirmed when Ural Airlines announced “[We are considering] several options for taking off the aircraft from the field”.

The airline has decided to take extra precautions before attempting to perform this stunt, including removing any extra components, to lower the weight, and also taking off with low fuel. The airline also plans to wait until winter when the ground will be harder, making the field closer to a runway than the muddy field it is now. Before the airline performs this stunt, they plan to “carry out landing gear testing, testing of components and additional studies of the aircraft design”.

It is unknown when the stunt will be attempted, or who will fly the plane, however, we do know that the airline is still willing to scrap the airplane to avoid any casualties that might occur. Ural Airlines’ fleet consists of 25 other A320s which can be served with safe parts from the crash site, making scrapping the plane still a viable option.