4-Hour Flight Airborne for Nearly 8 Hours Following "Stabilizer Issues"

A Boeing 737-800 registered to UT Air made an emergency landing on January 7th. The flight, UT Air Flight 881, reportedly experienced "stabilizer issues" mid-flight, causing the aircraft to divert to Moscow Vnukovo Airport (VKO) 6 hours and 50 minutes after takeoff. None of the 173 passengers onboard were injured.

Flight Details

UT Air Flight 881 (UT881) was a scheduled flight from Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia to Samarkand International Airport in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The flight was operated with a 13.5 year-old Boeing 737-800 registered as RA-73091. It was one of many aircraft that were "written off" and re-registered by the Russian government due to sanctions placed on leased Russian aircraft as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. There were 173 passengers on board.

Flight 881 departed St. Petersburg 1 hour and 11 minutes late at 12:06 PM local time (MSK). While the flight seemed normal, a malfunction was noticed at the aircraft's stabilizer. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, the aircraft immediately started circling around the airport after departing from St. Petersburg.

Approximately 21 minutes after circling, the flight continued south towards its destination in Uzbekistan. However, 50 minutes later, the flight once again started circling, this time near Moscow. The 737 was in a holding pattern for at least 2 hours and 30 minutes above Moscow before landing at Vnukovo Airport at 8:57 PM Moscow time, 2 hours after the scheduled arrival time at its original destination.

In total, the flight was airborne for nearly 7 hours, while only scheduled for 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced that takeoffs and landings were suspended for a time at Vnukovo Airport due to “technical issues beyond the airport’s control”. Several flights were diverted to other airports due to the suspension. It was lifted shortly after the emergency landing. The Russian news agency TASS reported that all 173 passengers onboard were unharmed.

The Aftermath

UT Air confirmed that the emergency landing was due to an issue with the stabilizer malfunctioning.

The incident raised concerns regarding Russian aviation safety. Some experts say that this incident might have been caused by the short supply of aircraft parts due to sanctions placed on Russia. A lot of planes registered in Russia are currently grounded as a result. Even an Airbus A350 was temporarily taken out of service to be used for its parts, as Airbus parts were also sanctioned for Russia.

RA-73091, The Boeing 737-800 involved, returned to service the next day, flying UT Air Flight 805 from Moscow Vnukovo Airport (VKO) to Tashkent (TAS). At the time of writing, the 737 is currently on the ground at Vnukovo Airport, having flown the return segment from Tashkent as Flight 806.