Passenger plane crash-lands in Russia

A Ural Airlines flight was forced to perform an emergency landing in a field in Novosibirsk Region

An Airbus A320 en route from Sochi to Omsk declared a mid-flight emergency on Tuesday morning and was redirected to an alternate airfield in Novosibirsk, but failed to reach it, emergency services told Russian media.

The aircraft was forced to perform an emergency landing in a field 180km away from Novosibirsk International Airport. The incident was reportedly caused by a hydraulics malfunction, according to preliminary reports.

There were up to 170 people aboard the distressed Ural Airlines flight, including 23 children. Early reports noted that none of the passengers or crew suffered any serious injuries. The authorities said the aircraft remained in one piece upon landing, there was no fire on board, and that everyone safely evacuated the plane using emergency slides.