Engine failure forces London-Beijing flight to land in remote Siberia. Now there is a Russia-Ukraine-war-related problem

A flight going from London Heathrow to China suffered an engine “malfunction” and landed in a region deep in Siberia, Russia, on Tuesday morning. The Air China plane was travelling to Beijing with 267 people on board and had to take a detour to Siberia following the scare. FlightAware data showed that the Boeing 777 landed at Nizhnevartovsk airport in the Russian region of Khanty-Mansi at around 8.17 am local time. It had taken off from London at 10.43 pm the previous night. The plane experienced a sudden engine malfunction after being in the air for five and a half hours, and turned towards Siberia. Talking about the mid-air scare, Rosaviatsia, Russia's civil aviation authority, said, “While flying from London to Beijing, the crew of an Air China Boeing 777-300 decided to land at an alternate airfield in Russia." Also Read: Plane vanishes in Australia: No distress signal detected, no traces even after 20 days

Western sanctions become a problem for passengers

“The preliminary cause was a malfunction of one of the engines,” it added. The Air China flight continues to remain stationed in Nizhnevartovsk. The airline will send another plane to bring the passengers to Beijing. It is expected to reach Siberia later today (Wednesday). Notably, due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Foreign Office (FCDO) has advised citizens to avoid any travel to Russia. It is unclear how many British citizens are on the plane. There is the added problem of where they would stay since the local airport’s holding area would not be able to accommodate so many people, Russian outlet Baza reported. British bank cards do not work in Russia due to sanctions following the Ukraine war. Meanwhile, Shot, another Russian media publication, reported that no food or drink had been supplied from the ground. “Air China has not requested water or food for the passengers,” it said.

Passengers stayed on the plane for six hours

Western airlines have stopped using Russian airspace following its invasion of Ukraine. But Boeing 777-39L(ER) was flying over Russian airspace when one of its engines malfunctioned. Videos of the plane landing in a remote region of Siberia show it taxiing unaided after landing. Russian officials confirmed that there are 267 people on the plane. According to an eyewitness who talked to Baza, a boarding ramp was immediately brought to the plane. However, local media reports suggest that the plane doors remained closed and the passengers were not allowed to enter the terminal. But they were finally let into the terminal after being on the plane for six hours. Shot said they'll be served Russian food since all the Chinese and English food available on the flight was over. Air China and the Foreign Office have not issued any statement on the matter.