Russian investigators are probing the circumstances of an incident involving an S7 Airlines Airbus A321neo which made an emergency landing in Irkutsk on 2 December.
The aircraft appears to have encountered issues shortly after departing Magadan’s runway 10 for Novosibirsk.
It flew a circuitous course in the vicinity of Magadan, experiencing large fluctuations in altitude, for about 30min before heading west.
Russia’s federal Investigative Committee is carrying out a probe into the incident, stating that the aircraft’s autopilot “was turned off en route” after which the captain carried out an emergency landing at Irkutsk.
None of the 199 passengers and seven crew members was injured, but the full details of the event have yet to become clear.
“Both the actions of the crew and the actions of ground services of the airport will be examined,” says the Investigative Committee.
S7 Airlines is being cited in several Russian media outlets as stating that it cannot rule out improper de-icing before the aircraft departed Magadan.
