Russian Passenger Jet Makes Emergency Landing in Cornfield After Colliding with Flock of Gulls

A Russian passenger jet collided with a flock of gulls shortly after takeoff from Moscow, forcing the pilot to make a miraculous emergency landing in a cornfield about half a mile from the airport.

Ural Airlines Flight 178 had only just departed for Simferopol from Zhukovsky International Airport when the incident occurred on Thursday. The airline in a statement said a group birds became trapped in both engines, which prompted them to shut off.

Seven crew members and 226 passengers were on board during the emergency landing. Of the 55 people who required medical assistance, only six of them were hospitalized, Russia’s Health Ministry said in a statement.

“Thanks to the professionalism of the pilots and crew, there were no serious injuries and damages among the passengers,” a translation of the statement reads.

Ural airlines also lauded the pilot, identified as 41-year-old Damir Yusupov, and co-pilot, 23-year-old Georgy Murzin for their “professionalism, self-possession and coordinated actions,” TASS reported.

Yuspov, who graduated with honors from St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation, has clocked in more than 3,000 flight hours. He was hired by the company immediately after he finished school.

Murzin graduated from the same university in 2017 and was hired last year. He has about 600 flight hours under his belt so far.

Local news outlets have already dubbed the ordeal the “Miracle over the Ramenskoe,” which refers to the area just outside of Moscow where the plane made its emergency landing. It calls to mind the 2009 crash landing on the Hudson River near Manhattan.

The US Airways flight, packed with 155 passengers, similarly struck a flock of birds, which caused it too lose power just after takeoff. The emergency landing, which did not result in any fatalities, has similarly been called the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

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