An Aviastar Tupolev Tu-204-100C had an engine burst into flames as it took off from an airport in Eastern Russia today. The cargo plane was departing for China, a journey that has become common over the last few years as Russian air freight traffic has increased in an attempt to resist Western sanctions. The sanctions have also led to a marked rise in aviation incidents involving Russian aircraft.
Eyewitnesses on the ground heard an explosion and then looked up to see the Tupolev with a stream of flames and sparks trailing off engine number one, the Daily Mail reports. The flight crew desperately dumped its fuel before making an emergency landing at Baikal Airport in Ulan-Ude, the same Siberian airport the plane took off from. It was reported that the eight people onboard, including five flight crew, were uninjured.
Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have strangled the country’s commercial aviation. The embargoed country is dealing with a plane parts shortage and can’t have Russian-owned Airbus and Boeing aircraft serviced overseas at maintenance facilities. There have been over 130 incidents involving planes from Russia, mainly due to parts failures.
Consequently, Russia has begun to rely on domestically produced aircraft, especially the Tupolev Tu-204. Less than 90 examples of the airliner have been built over the past 35 years. Russia’s presidential air fleet has offered to sell its older aircraft to local airlines looking to cannibalize planes for spare parts.
The state-owned United Aircraft Corporation has planned to restart production to make 70 new Tupolev Tu-204s by 2030. It remains unclear if Russian aviation will recover and actually become self-reliant.