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Coordinates: 55°30′39″N 38°15′9.34″E / 55.51083°N 38.2525944°E / 55.51083; 38.2525944
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Ural Airlines Flight 178
Photograph of the incident
The aircraft in the cornfield after the landing
Accident
Date15 August 2019 (2019-08-15)
SummaryForced landing in cornfield following bird strike and engine damage
SiteNear Zhukovsky International Airport, Moscow, Russia
55°30′39″N 38°15′9.34″E / 55.51083°N 38.2525944°E / 55.51083; 38.2525944
Aircraft

VQ-BOZ landing at Moscow Domodedovo Airport nine days prior to the accident
Aircraft typeAirbus A321-211
OperatorUral Airlines
IATA flight No.U6178
ICAO flight No.SVR178
Call signSVERDLOVSK 178
RegistrationVQ-BOZ
Flight originZhukovsky International Airport, Moscow, Russia
DestinationSimferopol International Airport, Simferopol, Crimea
Occupants233
Passengers226
Crew7
Fatalities0
Injuries28
Survivors233

On 15 August 2019, Ural Airlines Flight 178, a scheduled passenger flight from Moscow to Simferopol, suffered a forced landing in a cornfield after takeoff from Zhukovsky International Airport. The aircraft, an Airbus A321-211 with 226 passengers and 7 crew members, was taking off from Runway 12 when the aircraft struck several birds during rotation, causing damage to the engines. Due to damage to the left engine and improper actions by the flight crew, the A321 failed to gain sufficient airspeed and altitude. The aircraft landed and skidded across a cornfield before stopping with substantial damage. All 233 occupants survived the accident although 28 suffered injuries, 3 of them serious.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the crew praised for managing to land and evacuate the aircraft without any fatalities. Comparisons were made to the 2009 accident of US Airways Flight 1549, which ditched in the Hudson River after bird strikes and dual engine failure with no fatalities. The event was referred to as the Miracle on the Cornfield by Russian citizens. The flight crew were awarded Hero of the Russian Federation, Russia's highest civilian honor, and the cabin crew were given the Order of Courage.

The investigation into the accident was conducted by the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK). However, despite International Civil Aviation Organization regulations stipulating a final report any aviation accident be published as soon as possible, the last update to the investigation on the MAK website was a press release one year after the accident. Instead of being published, the final report with was posted on various Telegram channels in August 2022.

In the final report, MAK found several factors that caused the accident. Several illegal waste dumps in place around the airport attracted birds, airport management had failed to properly notify crews of birds, and existing procedure at Ural Airlines failed to properly give crews guidance on the safety hazards of birds. After the bird strike and engine damage, the crew failed to apply proper procedures in relation to the engines' failure to produce sufficient thrust. The landing gear was kept extended, the engine thrust was not properly managed, the pitch was commanded to too high of an angle, and the airspeed was not properly kept track of. As a result, the aircraft did not have enough thrust to overcome drag and descended into the cornfield.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Airbus A321-211, manufactured by Airbus Industrie in 2004, with registration VQ-BOZ. It was powered by two CFM International CFM56-5B turbofan engines manufactured by CFM International. By the time of the accident, the aircraft had a total of 48,980 airframe hours and 20,132 flight cycles.[1]: 52–53 [2]

Crew and passengers

Two pilots were in command of the flight. The captain and pilot-in-command was 41-year-old Damir Yusupov [ru; pl] who graduated from the Buguruslan Flight School of Civil Aviation [ru], in Buguruslan, Russia, in 2013. He has also received a degree in Air Navigation from the Ulyanovsk Institute of Civil Aviation, in Ulyanovsk, Russia.[3] Yusupov had a total of 4,275 flight hours, 4,125 of which were on the Airbus A320 family and 824 of those were as captain. He had a valid medical certificate and a valid air transport pilot certificate and was not involved in any prior incidents.[1]: 36 

The first officer and second-in-command was 23-year-old Georgy Murzin [ru; pl] who also graduated from the Buguruslan Flight School of Civil Aviation, in 2017.[4] Murzin had a total of 780 flight hours, 624 of which were on the Airbus A320 family. He also had a valid medical certificate and a valid air transport pilot certificate and was not involved in any prior incidents.[1]: 42–43 

In addition to the two flight crew members, there were five flight attendants on board.[3] 226 passengers were on the flight; 221 from Russian, 2 from Kazakhstan, 2 from Belarus and 1 from Ukraine.[1]: 14 

Accident

All times are in Moscow Time, UTC+03:00
External videos
video icon Footage shortly after takeoff
video icon Footage during landing
video icon Aerial footage of landing area
video icon Footage of the landing site and plane shot by a passenger after landing

On 15 August 2019, VQ-BOZ was scheduled to fly for Ural Airlines as flight 178 from Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow to Simferopol International Airport in Simferopol.[5] The crew arrived at the aircraft one and a half hours before the planned departure time of 6:10 am. Yusupov spoke with the flight crew of the aircraft's previous flight which told him that the aircraft was in working order. At 5:55, the Yusupov and Murzin began their pre-flight briefing, which included discussion on rejected takeoff and engine failure after V1 but did not discuss the threat of birds. They also discussed how they would only adress items on the electronic centralised aircraft monitor (ECAM) after they had climbed above 400 ft (120 m). At 6:05, the crew received clearance to push back from the gate, which started one minute later.[1]: 172, 215  During push back, the right engine was started at 6:07 am while the left engine was started a minute later. After engine start, the flaps were extended to the configuration 1 (CONF1) position of 10°. The crew were given clearance to follow an escort vehicle, first to taxiway B7, then to Runway 12. After they were given clearance to enter the runway at 6:11, Yusupov briefly discussed with Murzin about a flock of birds that he saw but continued to taxi into position for takeoff. One minute later at 6:12:58, air traffic control (ATC) cleared the flight for takeoff and cautioned them of "isolated bird activity". The V1 speed and VR speed were both 166 kn (307 km/h) and the V2 speed was 168 kn (311 km/h).[1]: 173–174, 215  Due to the long length of Runway 12, the engines were be set to flex temp, where instead of full takeoff go-around (TOGA) power, a lower thrust setting could be used. In this case, flex temp allowed a power of 91% N1 to be used.[1]: 174–176 [6]

Stills from a passenger cell phone video showing the moment birds struck the plane

At an airspeed of 60 kn (110 km/h), Yusupov was alarmed by the birds and called out, "Come on, fly past, bird, blyad," but continued the takeoff. Murzin soon announced, "100 knots" as the aircraft passed that speed, and Yusupov replied, "Checked." 28 seconds after the beginning of the takeoff, Murzin exclaimed "Yobannyi v rot, blyad" in relation to the birds.[1]: 216–217  At 6:13:40, he then called out "V1, rotate". Yusupov moved his sidestick back to start climbing, although it took four seconds for the aircraft to liftoff at an airspeed of 181 kn (335 km/h), significantly higher than the V2 calculated speed.[1]: 176  Simultaneously, several gulls—25–30 according to Yusupov's estimation[1]: 153 —were ingested by the engines. The left engine ingested at least three birds, one large, and the right engine ingested at least one bird.[1]: 103, 105  The recorded vibrations on both engines increased to the maximum measurable value and stayed at it for the rest of the flight. The N1 of the left engine decreased to near idle while the right engine's N1 reduced to a lesser extent. An erroneous "ENG 1 REVERSE UNLOCKED" warning appeared on the ECAM after a bird struck a sensor and gave a false indication that the thrust reverser on the left engine was unlocked.[1]: 115, 176, 196 

Four seconds after liftoff, Murzin called out "positive," referring to the positive rate of climb. However, he did not include "climb," the standard phrase that Yusupov was expecting and would have alerted him to raise the landing gear.[1]: 178, 222  As a result, the landing gear stayed down for a majority of the flight, resulting in significantly more drag.[7] Yusupov pitched the nose up to 12.5° and the airspeed reached 183 kn (339 km/h) before starting to decrease. Due to the reduced thrust in the left engine, the aircraft started to yaw to the left. Initially, he did not use the rudder pedals to counteract this movement. When he started to deflect the rudder pedals to the right, he did not use rudder trim to bias the rudder to the right without having to manually push on the pedals. Despite this being a required step before engaging the autopilot, that is what Yusupov did three seconds later at 6:13:59 as the aircraft was passing through 230 ft (70 m).[1]: 179–180, 200–201, 224  The autopilot automatically reduced the pitch down to 6° to reduce the ongoing decrease in airspeed. Immediately after the engagement, Yusupov announced, "ECAM action," despite being below the previously discussed altitude of 400 ft (120 m), the minimum altitude to react to ECAM messages. Murzin, reading the ECAM, said, "Engine one reverse unlocked, thrust levers one idle, confirm thrust," calling for the left engine thrust lever to be moved to idle. As the altitude peaked at 315 ft (96 m) at 6:14:04, Yusupov responded with "check." Two seconds later, the autopilot disconnected the rudder pedal forces by Yusupov exceeded the threshold the autopilot in its current configuration. Murzin never moved the left thrust lever to idle.[1]: 183–184, 223 [7]

When the autopilot disconnected, a red "AP OFF" warning appeared on the ECAM and a continuous aural sounded, both of which remained on for the remainder of the flight. Soon after, a enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) warning called out "don't sink" as the aircraft descended. In reaction, Yusupov pulled up on his sidestick and the aircraft's pitched varied between 8.5° and 13° nose up. While this temporarily resulted in a reduction in descent rate, the airspeed continued to decrease. He then attempted to call ATC about their situation by transmitting, "Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan, Sverdlovsk," but never finished his message. At the same time, his input on the rudder pedals lessened, the aircraft started to yaw back left and drag increased. The exhaust gas temperature of the left engine reached 950 °C (1,740 °F), and the warning related to it appeared on the ECAM.[1]: 184–186  At 6:14:20 and passing through 290 ft (88 m), the both thrust levers were advanced to TOGA power. The left engine did not respond but the right engine did; the N1 initially reached 96% before fluctuating between 78–96%. At the same time, several banging sounds came from the right engine, symptoms of a compressor stall. This reduced the thrust coming from the right engine and despite the proper procedure being to reduce thrust to the affected engine until the engine stabilizes, the right engine remained in TOGA for the rest of the flight.[1]: 188 [8] Nine seconds after the thrust levers were advanced into TOGA, Yusupov informed Murzin that the autopilot had disconnected and instructed him to watch the airspeed. Murzin did not reply, nor did he call out the decreasing airspeed. Yusupov then reported the emergency to ATC and transmitted, "Pan-pan, pan-pan, pan-pan, Sverdlovsk 178, one engine failure." He then ordered Murzin to request a return back to the airport, which the controller granted, but the crew did not discuss how they would return nor they did attempt to do so.[1]: 189, 229–230 

[9] The captain claimed he chose not to lower the landing gear in order to skid more effectively over the corn, however this was later disputed by investigators in a leaked report. Everyone on board the flight survived.[10] There have been differing reports on the number of injuries sustained as the criteria for counting a person as "injured" are not overly strict. According to some reports, 55 people received medical attention at the scene. 29 people were taken to hospital, of whom 23 were injured. Six people were admitted as in-patients.[11][12][13] The number of injuries was finally fixed at 74, none of whom were severely injured.[14] All passengers were offered 100,000 ₽ (US$1,358) as compensation.[15]

The aircraft was damaged beyond repair in the accident,[5] and the airline announced that it would be dismantled (on site) for scrapping, in an operation that was scheduled to commence on 23 August 2019.[16] The accident represents the sixth hull loss of an Airbus A321.[17][18]

Proliferation of birds near airport

The proliferation of birds near Moscow–Zhukovsky is attributed to illegal waste dumps.[19] The deployed bird control measures are overwhelmed and insufficient.[20] In 2012, the management of one of the waste sites had been sued in Zhukovsky district court, alleging that "the waste sorting facilities attract massive numbers of birds due to significant content of edible refuse, and with the site located at the distance of 2 km (1.2 mi; 1.1 nmi) from the airport runway this could lead to collisions between birds and aircraft, threatening human life and limb". The court did not find sufficient grounds to rule in favor of plaintiffs and their demands to enjoin the defendants from sorting or storing household waste at the specified site.[21]

As of 2019, this site is no longer sorting or storing household waste, instead compacting it and transferring it further for disposal; the operations, however, are conducted outdoors.[19]

A Zhukovsky air traffic controller declared:[20]

We issue warnings to every departing aircraft. The birds come to sit on the runway ⁠— ⁠there's the river and the dump nearby, so they're here constantly.

In September 2019, Rosaviatsiya proposed to work with law enforcement authorities to check the legality of waste dumps near airports, and will also examine the frequency of scheduled and unscheduled inspections of airports for the presence of birds.[22]

Reactions

Damir Yusupov (left) and Georgy Murzin (right) at the awards ceremony in the Kremlin, 21 November 2019

Shortly after the accident, Ural Airlines released a statement on Twitter stating: "Flight U6178 Zhukovsky-Simferopol on departure from Zhukovsky sustained multiple bird strikes to the aircraft engines. The aircraft made an emergency landing. There were no injuries to the passengers and crew."[23] The airline praised the professionalism of the pilots.[13]

On social media, immediate comparisons[24] were made between the accident and the "Miracle on the Hudson" incident involving US Airways Flight 1549.

The pilot in command, Damir Yusupov, and first officer, Georgy Murzin, were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation; the other five crew members were decorated with the Order of Courage.[25]

While being praised in Russia, the crew of the aircraft was entered into the blacklist of Ukrainian NGO Myrotvorets ("Peacemaker"), which accused them of "knowingly and on multiple occasions making illegal crossings of the state border of Ukraine".[26]

Author of the first Russian disaster movie Air Crew, Alexander Mitta, announced plans to make a film based on the events of Flight 178.[27]

Investigation

The Interstate Aviation Committee (Russian: Межгосударственный авиационный комитет, МАК) opened an investigation into the accident. The investigation was assisted by Rosaviatsiya, the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were both successfully recovered and their data downloaded.[5]

Instead of being published, the report was leaked in August 2022. The report blames the pilots for several mistakes. An aviation journalist explained one of the main contributing factors was the Russian attitude of avoiding non-standard decisions such as holding on the runway and delaying the takeoff run or even aborting takeoff. Both the crew had seen the birds and were aware of them before takeoff began; both were swearing because of the birds. As for the continuing events after takeoff, the crew was described as disorganized as they didn't retract the undercarriage nor disable the alarm which sounded after autopilot disengagement. An emergency landing was not discussed in the cockpit; as a consequence the engines were not shut down on touchdown. Retracting the undercarriage in the last phase of the flight was interpreted as a measure to gain speed by the investigation, not as a preparation for an emergency landing as claimed by the pilots.

Aftermath

After the accident, the aircraft was written off[5] and the airline announced that it would be demolished, recycled and scrapped, in an operation that was scheduled to commence on 23 August 2019.[16]

In culture

On March 16, 2023, the feature film Na solnce, vdol' riadov kukuruzy was released, depicting the emergency landing near Zhukovsky, starring Egor Beroev as Damir Yusupov.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oкончательного отчета по результатам расследования аварии самолета А321-211 VQ-BOZ [Final report on the results of the investigation into the crash of the A321-211 VQ-BOZ aircraft] (Report) (in Russian). Interstate Aviation Committee. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2025 – via the Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "The CFM56-5B Turbofan Engine". CFM International. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b ""Они каждый у меня — граненый бриллиант". Об экипаже, сумевшем спасти сотни жизней" ["Each of them is a faceted diamond". About the crew, who managed to save hundreds of lives] (in Russian). TASS. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  4. ^ "Выпускники Бугурусланского лётного училища стали героями "второго чуда на Гудзоне"" [Graduates of the Buguruslan Flight School became the heroes of the “Second Miracle on the Hudson”]. orenburzhie.ru (in Russian). 15 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  5. ^ a b c d Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Ural A321 at Moscow on Aug 15th 2019, bird strike into both engines forces landing in corn field". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Reduced Thrust Takeoff". SKYbrary. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Помните удивительную посадку самолета на кукурузном поле под Жуковским? Официальное расследование показало, что это вовсе не чудо, а результат многих ошибок пилотов" [Remember the amazing plane landing in a cornfield near Zhukovsky? The official investigation showed that this was not a miracle at all, but the result of many pilot errors.]. Meduza (in Russian). 7 September 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  8. ^ Molodcova, Anna (14 August 2020). "Год посадки A321 в кукурузном поле: Реконструкция ЧП в виртуальной реальности" [The year after the A321 landing in a cornfield: reconstructing the emergency in virtual reality]. 5TV (in Russian). Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  9. ^ Nowack, Timo (15 August 2019). "A321 von Ural Airlines landet in Maisfeld" [A321 of Ural Airlines lands in cornfield] (in German). Aerotelegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  10. ^ Cole, Brendan (15 August 2019). "Russian Plane With 234 People On Board Crash-lands in Cornfield After Birds Fly Into Engine Causing Fire, 23 Injured". Newsweek. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Russia bird strike: 23 injured after plane hits gulls and crash-lands". BBC News. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Passengers injured in emergency landing after Russian jet hits birds". CBS News. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  13. ^ a b Fox, Kara (15 August 2019). "Russian jet crash-lands in field outside Moscow after striking flock of gulls". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Число пострадавших при посадке A321 в поле возросло до 74 человек" [The number of injuries during the landing of A321 in the field reached 74]. ria.ru. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Заявление на получение компенсации пассажирам рейса U6 178 Жуковский-Симферополь" [Application for compensation to passengers of flight U6 178 Zhukovsky-Simferopol]. www.uralairlines.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  16. ^ a b Kaminski-Morrow, David (22 August 2019). "Field-landing Ural A321 to be cut up and removed". Flightglobal.com.
  17. ^ Ranter, Harro. "VQ-BOZ accident details". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  18. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Airbus A321". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  19. ^ a b "Свалки и стаи птиц: что показала проверка территории вокруг аэродрома Жуковского" [Landfills and flocks of birds: as shown by a check of the territory around the Zhukovsky airfield] (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  20. ^ a b "Как владельцы свалок у аэропорта Жуковский связаны с губернатором Подмосковья" [How landfill owners at Zhukovsky airport are connected with the governor of the Moscow region] (in Russian). 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
  21. ^ "Легкая мишень для чаек" [Easy target for seagulls]. Новая газета (in Russian). 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  22. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (5 September 2019). "Russian authorities to probe airports' exposure to bird risk". Flightglobal.com.
  23. ^ @Ural_Air_Lines (15 August 2019). "На рейсе U6178 Жуковский-Симферополь при вылете из Жуковского произошло многочисленное попадание птиц в двигатели самолета. Самолет совершил вынужденную посадку. Пассажиры и экипаж не пострадали" [Flight U6178 Zhukovsky-Simferopol on departure from Zhukovsky sustained multiple bird strikes to the aircraft engines. The aircraft made an emergency landing. There were no injuries to the passengers and crew.] (Tweet) (in Russian) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Russia hails miracle after plane makes emergency landing in a cornfield". CNBC. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  25. ^ "Путин присвоил звания Героев России летчикам самолета, совершившего посадку под Жуковским" [Putin awarded the title of the Heroes of Russia to the pilots landed the aircraft near Zhukovsky] (in Russian). TASS. 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  26. ^ "Plane crash-lands after hitting flock of birds". BBC. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Это был бы мировой блокбастер" [It would be a global blockbuster] (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  28. ^ Bausov, Artyom (2023-03-16). "Посмотрел российский фильм «На солнце, вдоль рядов кукурузы» про падение самолета в 2019 году. Как воды попил" [Watch the Russian film "In the sun, along the rows of corn" about the plane crash in 2019. How to drink water]. iPhones.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-04-06.


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