A passenger plane to Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing deep in Siberia.
Hundreds of people were on board the Hainan Airlines flight HU753 from Beijing, China, to Manchester yesterday when it experienced a technical glitch.
The Airbus A330-300, carrying around 230 people, headed to Krasnoyarsk in Russia’s eastern Siberia after pilots detected the issue.
The airline confirmed that the Beijing-Manchester flight suffered a ‘mechanical fault’ and that it landed safely.
Russia’s Emergency Ministry said no deaths or injuries were reported, and there was no damage to the aircraft or the infrastructure from the landing.
Dozens of emergency crews and vehicles were sent in to meet the plane when it touched down at 7.28am Beijing time.
Local media reported that the passengers on board were British and Chinese, but the nationalities have not been officially confirmed.
A replacement aircraft was being sent to operate a connecting flight to Europe.
Hainan Airlines said in a statement: ‘On 15 August 2026, our flight HU753 (Beijing–Manchester) diverted to Krasnoyarsk International Airport in Russia due to a mechanical fault. The flight landed safely at 07:28 Beijing time.
‘The company plans to replace the aircraft to operate the onward flight. We will properly arrange passenger service support to ensure safe arrival at the destination. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Hainan Airlines always adheres to the principles of safety first and passengers first, providing safe, comfortable and efficient services.’
Aviation tracking website Flightradar24 shows how the plane took off from Beijing at about 7.40pm UTC yesterday.
It touched down at Krasnoyarsk International Airport at approximately 11.30pm UTC.
It appears another Hainan Airlines flight then took off from Krasnoyarsk later that same day, bound for Brussels, where another plane then connected to Manchester.
The Manchester flight landed shortly after 9pm yesterday due to the time difference.
The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia currently because of ‘the risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine.’
Putin’s army fired missiles on Kyiv this morning, leading to fires in the Ukrainian capital and injuring one person.
Ukraine has struck targets hundreds of miles inside Russia, with the latest one reportedly involving a rocket factory more than 500 miles from the border on Saturday.
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