- Illustrative photo: Air China
MOSCOW: (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) The pilot of an Air China flight from Beijing to London with 265 people on board decided to land at an alternate airfield in Russia's Nizhnevartovsk, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday (Aug 26).
Preliminary investigation by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviation, said this was due to a malfunction of one of the engines.
"Today, while operating a flight from London to Beijing, the crew of an Air China Boeing 777-300 aircraft decided to land at an alternate airfield in Russia.
"The preliminary cause is a malfunction of one of the engines. The crew sent an urgent PAN signal (an international standard urgency signal) and requested descent," the agency said.
Air China has sent a backup flight to Nizhnevartovsk, which is expected to land at 11.00 GMT and take off for Beijing at 15.00 GMT, the agency added. - Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti
