Boeing 737-800 makes emergency landing in NW Russia

MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A Boeing 737-800 News.cn/en/tag/i0xddfaaf277c83ec5c67b/index.html" target="_blank">aircraft made an emergency landing in the northwestern News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News.cn/en/tag/i0xnazk3ad782eec7c70fa/index.html" target="_blank">Russian city of Syktyvkar on Friday, causing no harm to its passengers, News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News.cn/en/tag/i0xnazk3ad782eec7c70fa/index.html" target="_blank">Russian News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News agencies reported.

The accident may have resulted from an engine failure, RIA Novosti News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News agency quoted a spokesman for the Northwestern Inter-regional Transport Office of the News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News.cn/en/tag/i0xnazk3ad782eec7c70fa/index.html" target="_blank">Russian Investigative Committee as saying.

The News.cn/en/tag/i0xddfaaf277c83ec5c67b/index.html" target="_blank">aircraft was on its way from the eastern Siberian town of Mirny to Moscow when the accident happened, it said.

The News.cn/en/tag/i0xddfaaf277c83ec5c67b/index.html" target="_blank">aircraft, which belongs to News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News.cn/en/tag/i0xnazk3ad782eec7c70fa/index.html" target="_blank">Russian diamond miner Alrosa, was preparing for a takeoff after "all the problems were eliminated," Interfax News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News agency reported.

There were 157 passengers and six crew members on board, it added.

The News.cn/en/tag/i0xddfaaf277c83ec5c67b/index.html" target="_blank">aircraft took off for Moscow after checks and technical servicing, TASS News.cn/en/tag/i0xagnnjf0e3105aed7821/index.html" target="_blank">News agency quoted the head of the Alrosa airline Andrei Gulov as saying.

A Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane operated by Ethiopian Airlines, a newer version of the 737-800, crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board.

Another jet of the same model, flown by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, crashed last October, killing all 189 passengers on board.

The twin tragedies within the time-span of five months had made many countries ground Boeing 737 Max jets or ban them from their airspace. Enditem