Series of malfunctions plague Russian airlines, passengers stranded
On Saturday, Russian media reported a series of malfunctions that occurred in Russian airplanes. An AzurAir plane with 200 passengers on board was stuck at the airport in Antalya, Turkey. Several people lost consciousness because the air conditioning was not working. Meanwhile, a UVTaero plane skidded off the runway during landing in Yekaterinburg.
As reported by the Mash channel, the first malfunction occurred on a plane belonging to the Russian airline AzurAir. "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 stuffiness, the air conditioning on the plane is not working," the report reads.
Plane skidded off the runway during landing
The Boeing 767-300 AzurAir was scheduled to fly from Antalya to Moscow at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Initially, people were kept near the gate, then they were boarded.
"Passengers were forced to undress and began sharing the remaining water," describes Mash. One of the passengers claims that the pilots were unable to start the plane's engines. "We have been sitting in a heated plane for over an hour. The crew is not responding," the passenger said.
Another incident occurred in Moscow. "Hundreds of tourists are trying to fly to Antalya from Domodedovo Airport. The departure of the RedWings flight (also a Russian airline - ed.) is also delayed from 12:00 PM. Airline representatives did not provide any explanations and offered passengers accommodation in a nearby hotel," Mash reported.
The third incident took place at the airport in Yekaterinburg. A UVTaero plane with 46 passengers on board skidded 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.
The cause of malfunctions is sanctions
Since the beginning of the year, Russian airline planes have malfunctioned at least 15 times. "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 in Russia, there were 670 "serious aviation incidents," of which 400 were related to "aircraft malfunctions."
"The problems are obvious: carriers cannot legally purchase original spare parts. Aviation authorities allow the use of parts longer than safety standards permit, leading to accidents," notes Andrey Patrakov, head of RunAvia, a company specializing in-flight safety.
