Russian plane makes emergency landing

MOSCOW, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The pilots of a Russian Tu-154 passenger jet are heroes for safely landing the disabled aircraft on an abandoned and unmarked runway, an official says.

About halfway through a flight from the Sakha republic's Polyarny Airport to Moscow, the plane's electrical system malfunctioned, but the flight crew spotted the unmarked airfield and was able to land safely, The Moscow Times said Thursday.

"I would award the captain a Hero of Russia medal for what he did," said Pyotr Dityatev, who witnessed the landing Tuesday.

"It was not a sight for the weak," said Dityatev, head of the Izhma district, where the abandoned airfield is located. "Small planes like Yak-40 and An-24 last landed in our Izhma airport about 10 years ago. The landing strip is all overgrown with weeds, and even landing of a helicopter is a major event for us."

After dumping fuel, and on the third attempt, the pilots landed the plane without instrumentation, and without the use of its flaps to slow it down.

The plane went off the end of the short runway, chopping the tops off of small trees before coming to rest in a swampy area.

"It was very scary," said passenger Andrei Kondratyev. "I personally saw how the wings cut off the tops of trees like a lawnmower. There was panic, someone started yelling that we're on fire. As soon as the plane stopped, people started breaking down doors to get out.

The plane carried 72 passengers and eight crew members.

The jet is the same model that crashed in April, killing Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people, the newspaper said.