The pilots of a Ural Airlines operated Airbus A321 single-aisle aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in a cornfield shortly after takeoff from Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport (ZIA) earlier today. All 226 passengers and seven crew members miraculously escaped the stricken plane without injury after a flock of birds engulfed the engines and caused a double-engine failure just minutes after takeoff.
Ural Airlines flight U6178 departed Moscow at approximately 6:15am this morning bound for the Russian city of Simferopol – a flight that should only take two hours. In a Facebook post, the airline confirmed that in a scene reminiscent of the “Miracle on the Hudson” incident, both engines were taken out by a bird strike a very short time after takeoff.
Incredible images shared on social media show the moments leading up to the emergency landing in the eerily quiet cabin. Both engines and wings were said to be badly damaged in the crash but passengers were able to evacuate via emergency slides without incident.
The two pilots, who have been hailed as heroes for managing to safely land the aircraft in a cornfield, have been named as Captian Damir Yusupov and First Officer Georgy Murzin. Captain Yusupov has worked for Ural Airlines since 2013 and has a total of 3,000 hours flying experience.
The five members of cabin crew have been named as Dmitry Ivlickij, Aliya Slâkaeva, Dmitry Gončarenko, Nadezhda Veršinina and Jan Jagodina.
Here’s the moment that a flock of seagulls hit the engines just as the plane left the tarmac…
Moments when birds hit the jet engines for the flight #U6178 when Captain Damir Yusupov with co-pilot Gregory Murzin had to take the decision to land the A321 @Ural_Air_Lines into a cornfield, saving everyone aboard.
Not Sully, but Damir of the Cornfield pic.twitter.com/a52w4jValY— Vlad Markov (@vmarkov) August 15, 2019
And these are the moments just before landing captured by a passenger in the cabin…
Passenger video captures moment a Ural Airlines A321 makes emergency landing in a corn field following a bird strike on both engines during takeoff from Zhukovsky airport (Video:bazabazon). https://t.co/DcW24EYmXl pic.twitter.com/fEpufQbTuu
— Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) August 15, 2019
Aerial footage shows just how lucky the passengers and crew were to escape the crash unharmed…
🇷🇺 Vidéo impressionnante du site de l’atterrissage d’urgence de l’Airbus A321 d’Ural Airlines.
▫️226 passagers et 7 membres d’équipage se trouvaient à bord de l’appareil, qui effectuait un vol à destination de Simféropol en Crimée.
📹 Baza pic.twitter.com/ESQWkGsy18
— air plus news (@airplusnews) August 15, 2019
And then here’s the moment Captain Yusupov addressed passengers in the field a short time after they had evacuated…
Russians have now similar hero as “Sully,” his name Damir Yusupov, second pilot Gregory Murzin. They managed to land the plane U6178 A321 @Ural_Air_Lines with busted two engines into the field. All 226 passengers and 7 members of the crew alive and well. pic.twitter.com/vcQjBrqQff
— Vlad Markov (@vmarkov) August 15, 2019
#U6178: more pics.
📸: BAZA pic.twitter.com/Mxu8907lVy— BoardingPass (@BoardingPassRO) August 15, 2019
Ural Airlines started operations in its current form in 2013, although the company can trace its roots all the way back to 1943. According to the airline, there are currently 16 Airbus A321’s in its all-Airbus fleet.
