Ural Airlines told Izvestia that it has abandoned plans to recover an Airbus A320 that became stuck in a wheat field in the Novosibirsk region.
The aircraft made an emergency landing on September 12, 2023 after a hydraulic failure and the pilots chose a farm as the location.
The landing operation was successful, with none of the crew or passengers injured, however, the A320 became stuck in the wheat field.
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The carrier then began to evaluate alternatives to recover the commercial jet, but none of them proved viable.
Among the options were taking off from a frozen surface but the density of the subsoil proved inadequate. It was also considered building a conventional runway, but the farm is almost 200 km from Novosibirsk, which makes the construction cost more expensive.
Other alternatives would be to take the entire A320 or in parts, in this case by helicopters, but they proved to be impractical.
Ural Airlines has been paying rent for the use of the farm’s wheat field in addition to maintaining surveillance on site to prevent possible theft.
According to the company, 10.5 million rubles have already been spent on the operation, around US$110,000.
“We are evaluating all risks and should not use this aircraft in commercial operations, taking into account that under current conditions there is no support from the manufacturer Airbus,” Ural spokeswoman Vera Gasnikova told Izvestia.
Loss of hydraulic system
The A320, registration RA-73805, was carrying out flight U63183 between Sochi and Omsk on September 11, 2023, however, it suffered a loss of hydraulic system and the crew decided to switch to Novosibirsk Airport, which has a longer runway.
The aircraft ran out of fuel before reaching the airport and made an emergency landing about 185 km from Novosibirsk.
The jet first flew in February 2004 and was originally delivered to Air Arabia via lease from ILFC. In 2013, the A320 was transferred to Ural Airlines, still under lease.
