Russian flag carrier Ural Airlines has announced the start of dismantling its Airbus A320 which was stuck in an open field after a forced landing on September 12, 2023. The plane had 167 people on board, including 23 children and 6 crew .
The aircraft, an Airbus A320 with registration RA-73805, made an emergency landing after the aircraft was found to be unsafe to land at Novosibirsk Airport (OVB).
The decision to make a forced landing was made after the crew realized that there was not enough fuel to reach Novosibirsk airport. The entire crew was suspended while the investigation was ongoing.
Despite the successful emergency landing, the fate of the A320 remained uncertain for months. Initially, it was thought that Ural would remove the aircraft by building a makeshift runway, but the company decided to dismantle the aircraft only in January of this year, four months after the incident.
With the decision to dismantle the aircraft, Ural said that the process will occur in stages, as well as evaluating the parts that can still be removed for use.
"The aircraft parts that are airworthy have been identified. They will be retested before being reused for their intended purpose. Damaged aircraft elements will be repaired. The airline plans to complete the aircraft disassembly work by December 2024.”, Ural Airlines said in a statement published on the Aero Time portal.
On April 11, 2024, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) published an investigative report into the incident and indicated that the accident was caused by multiple factors involving the hydraulic system and crew errors.
Ural Airlines has denied that the Airbus A320's faults were caused by the lack of spare parts due to Russian sanctions. The aircraft, ed RA-73805, was originally delivered to Air Arabia in 2004, and was transferred to Air Arabia Maroc in 2011, before becoming part of Ural Airlines in 2013.
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With information: Aero Time
