Russian Planes Continue to Fly Unchecked Amid Sanctions, Endangering Passenger Safety

Russia continues to fly passenger planes without proper maintenance or access to necessary electronics, which are unavailable due to sanctions. This has resulted in the third mid-air failure of a Russian aircraft within a week.

The latest incident involved a Utair Boeing 737 en route from Saint Petersburg to Samarkand, The Moscow Times reported on January 7.

The crew detected a stabilizer issue mid-flight, prompting a course change and a request for an emergency landing. The aircraft landed safely, according to the airline’s press service. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew, and a reserve aircraft was prepared to complete the journey.

As sanctions hinder access to parts and maintenance for Western-made aircraft, Russian aviation companies continue to fly the Western planes, endangering everyone on board and on the ground.

In the past week alone, two in-flight malfunctions occurred on Russian passenger planes.

On January 4, an Airbus A321neo operated by Ural Airlines, traveling from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to Yekaterinburg, experienced a failure of its left engine at an altitude of 4,500 meters. Pilots returned to the departure airport after reporting the issue.

Similarly, on January 2, a NordStar Boeing 737 flying from Volgograd to Yekaterinburg suffered a left engine failure at 11,300 meters. The aircraft turned back to the Gumrak Airport in Volgograd.

Earlier, reports emerged that in 2022 Russia announced plans to produce 108 passenger planes. However, due to the imposing of Western sanctions in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022—particularly those targeting the foreign components on which Russian aviation heavily depends—Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation managed to produce only 7 such planes by 2024.