Russian Pilot Hailed As A Hero After 'Miracle' Landing Of Passenger Jet In A Cornfield Following Bird Strike

Daily Mail: Miracle of the cornfield! Hero pilot safely belly-lands a flaming Russian jet carrying 233 people on farmland after a flock of birds got sucked into both engines during take-off

* Ural Airlines A321 plane was taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky airport Thursday when it hit a flock of birds
* One of the engines caught fire while the other one spluttered and then stopped working, Russian media says
* Hero pilot Damir Yusupov brought the plane down in a cornfield, leaving 23 people with just minor wounds
* Russian media compared crash to Miracle on the Hudson, when jet successfully crash-landed in New York

A Russian pilot has been hailed as a hero after he successfully crash-landed a passenger plane in a cornfield after birds were sucked into both engines, causing them to fail.

The Ural Airlines A321 plane was taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky airport on Thursday morning bound for Crimea when the birds flew across the runway, causing one engine to burst into flames and the other to stop.

Pilot Damir Yusupov, 41, radioed the airport asking to make an emergency landing but was forced to ditch into a cornfield a mile away after realising he was not going to make it.

Yusupov brought the plane down with no power in either engine and with the landing gear retracted.

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WNU Editor: I have flown out of Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport more times that I can remember, and seagulls have always been a problem. As for this incident, the pilot is a hero.

More News On Today's Miracle Landing Of A Passenger Jet In A Cornfield Following Bird Strike

Plane crash landing in Moscow region leaves 55 injured -- TASS
Russian airliner with 233 onboard suffers birdstrike, makes BELLY LANDING near Moscow (VIDEO) -- RT
Crimea-Bound Airbus A321 Makes Hard Emergency Landing at Moscow Region Airport, Passengers Evacuated -- Sputnik
Captain hailed hero after bird strike disables Russian plane -- AP
Kremlin lauds 'hero' pilots after emergency landing near Moscow -- Reuters
Russian Plane Hits Birds, Makes Emergency Landing -- VOA/RFE
Russian pilot hailed after 'miracle' landing of passenger jet following bird strike -- FOX News
Hero pilot carrying 226 tourists lands in cornfield after plane collided with flock of birds -- Yahoo News
Video shows MOMENT when birds hit Ural Airlines jet on take-off -- RT
Watch Seagulls Strike A321 Plane Carrying 234 People Seconds Before Hard Landing -- Sputnik
Kremlin praises heroic pilots for safely landing plane after bird strike -- TASS
What we know about the crew of the belly-landed A321 near Moscow -- TASS