The Kremlin has confirmed it will bestow state awards on two pilots after they avoided catastrophe by performing an emergency landing in a corn field outside Moscow.
The Ural Airlines Airbus 321 struck a flock of birds during take-off, prompting a malfunction with the plane’s engines.
Ural Airlines A321 plane after its hard landing on a corn field near Moscow's Zhukovsky airport. Source: AFP
Video shows the plane’s landing gear was still up when it came down in the field less than two minutes after taking off from Zhukovsky International Airport.
Russian state television is already dubbing the landing the “miracle over Ramensk,” a nod to the region where the emergency landing was performed.
Passengers of a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 plane which made a hard landing in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport. Source: TASS
More than 55 people were treated for injuries with reports at least six people were taken to hospital following the scare.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the pilots deserve much respect for the way they handled the life or death situation.
"We congratulate the hero pilots who saved people's lives," he said.
Airbus A321 plane co-pilot Georgy Murzin (2nd L), Ural Airlines operational director Alexander Zinovyev (2nd R). Source: TASS
Comparisons are already being drawn with US Airways Flight 1549 which was forced to land on New York’s Hudson River after striking a flock of geese in 2009.
