Ural Airlines has confirmed that it will attempt to fly its Airbus A320 out of the field it became stranded in following an emergency off-airport landing on September 12.
The Russian carrier said is a statement that it was considering “several options for taking off the aircraft from the field” and that it was awaiting the delivery of lifts to “carry out landing gear testing, testing of components and additional studies of the aircraft design”.
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“The plan also includes dismantling the seats to make the aircraft lighter,” the statement revealed.
The jet, RA-73805 (c/n 2166) was carrying 161 passengers and six crew members between Sochi and Omsk when it came down in a field in Siberia, while attempting to divert to an airport following a hydraulic system failure.
In an update, dubbed “News from the field”, Ural revealed that following baroscopic examination of the engines, its engineering team has determined the powerplants will not require refurbishment.
“The engine flow section was cleared of soil and straw, which was confirmed by repeated inspection,” the statement added.
At a press conference following the incident, the general director of the carrier Sergei Skuratov revealed that the aircraft’s green hydraulic system failed while the jet was on approach to Omsk.
Skuratov says that as a result of the failure, the required landing distance increased beyond the 2,500m offered by Omsk. The crew subsequently decided to divert to Novosibirsk located approximately 375 miles (600km) to the east of its planned destination.
The green hydraulic system on an A320 is responsible for raising and lowering the landing gear, slats and flaps. It is also responsible for providing pressure to the normal brakes, reverser for engine 1 and some of the wing spoilers. However, the yellow and blue hydraulic systems provide redundancy for some of these functions.
The A320 experienced higher fuel burn on its diversion owing to its low altitude, “very strong winds” and the inability to retract the landing gear.
