By Canadian Press

23 injured in Russian plane’s emergency landing

Aug 15, 2019 | 12:56 AM

MOSCOW — A passenger jet made an emergency landing in a field outside of one of Moscow’s airports Thursday after colliding with a flock of birds, injuring at least 23 people, Russian officials said.

The Ural Airlines A321 carrying 226 passengers and a crew of seven hit the birds as it took off Thursday from Moscow’s Zhukovsky airport en route for Simferopol, in Crimea.

The airline said in a statement that the birds got into both of the plane’s engines, causing a malfunction. The pilot then made an emergency landing in a cornfield about 1 kilometre (half a mile) from the airport.

Russian health authorities said 23 people, including five children, have been hospitalized with injuries.

Ural Airlines lauded the crew for its professionalism in arranging the evacuation.

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Footage from the scene showed the flight commander directing the passengers to walk away from the plane across the cornfield.

The Associated Press