Russian airline woes: Series of malfunctions strand passengers
On Saturday, Russian media reported a series of malfunctions in Russian airplanes. An AzuAir plane carrying 200 passengers was stranded at the airport in Antalya, Turkey. Several people lost consciousness due to the failure of the air conditioning system. Meanwhile, a UVTaero plane veered off the runway while landing in Yekaterinburg.
According to the Mash channel, the first malfunction occurred on an AzurAir plane. "Two hundred Russians were stranded at the Turkish airport in Antalya. Two adults and a child lost consciousness due to the heat – people are sitting in stuffy conditions as the plane's air conditioning is not working," the report stated.
Plane veered off runway while landing
The AzurAir Boeing 767-300 was scheduled to fly from Antalya to Moscow at 5 AM GMT. Initially, passengers were held near the gate before being boarded.
"Passengers were forced to undress and started sharing the remaining water," Mash describes. One of the passengers claimed that the pilots could not start the plane's engines. "We have been sitting in the heated plane for over an hour. The crew is not responding," said a passenger.
Another incident occurred in Moscow. "Hundreds of tourists are trying to fly to Antalya from Domodedovo airport. The departure of the RedWings plane (also a Russian airline—ed.) is also delayed from 5 AM. Airline representatives have not provided any explanations and have offered passengers accommodation in a nearby hotel," reported Mash.
A third incident occurred at the airport in Yekaterinburg. A UVTaero plane with 46 onboard passengers veered off the runway during landing.
No one was hurt. The airport was closed for several hours, and two planes were redirected to the backup airport in Chelyabinsk.
Sanctions are causing malfunctions
Since the beginning of the year, Russian airlines have experienced at least 15 malfunctions. "In one-third of the cases, the cause was the engine," wrote the "New Edition" portal at the end of January.
According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, from January to November 2023, there were 670 "serious aviation incidents", of which 400 were related to "aircraft malfunctions."
The problems are apparent: carriers cannot legally buy original spare parts. Aviation authorities allow the use of parts beyond safety standards, which leads to accidents - notes Andrey Patrakov, head of RunAvia, a company specialising in-flight safety.
