Passenger Jet's Close Call: Engine Cover Breaks Mid-Air, Forcing Emergency Landing

A passenger aircraft of Russia narrowly escaped a terrible crash when the metal covering of the SSJ100 engine broke in mid-air, forcing an emergency landing with 90 passengers on board in Khabarovsk.

Videos and images circulating online show missing parts of the right engine’s metal covering. No injuries were reported in the incident.

The SSJ100, operated by Rossiya Airlines, was travelling from Vladivostok to Blagoveshchensk on November 15 with 90 passengers and five crew members on board.

Witnesses told Russian journalists that a section of the plane’s outer skin separated during the flight, according to The Moscow Times.

Russia’s Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office said the aircraft experienced a “technical malfunction” and landed safely at around 09:00 local time.

The incident comes amid growing concerns over the state of Russia’s civil aviation fleet. The head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Dmitry Yadrov, told a Federation Council committee that the country’s civil aviation fleet could lose a third of its aircraft and 200 helicopters by 2030.

During the committee meeting on October 7, he also cautioned that ‘a couple of dozen’ Sukhoi Superjets could be retired due to engine issues in some of them.

In 2024, two Sukhoi Superjets operated by Azimuth Airlines were involved in three separate incidents within a single week, including an engine fire on landing and a failed take-off in Saransk caused by engine failure.

Another aircraft from the same fleet made an emergency landing on December 1 due to a fuel-filter malfunction.

There has also been continued pressure on the country’s civil aviation ecosystem due to sanctions on some parts and overflights amidst the Russia-Ukraine war.

Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia

An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia’s far east, as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft.

The burning fuselage of the plane, which was made in 1976, was spotted by a search helicopter after it disappeared from radar screens.