A Russian aircraft came close to landing on an unfinished runway at Kadyrov Grozny International Airport (GRV).
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the incident happened on the morning of September 7, 2024. Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media.
The Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operated by Russian airline UTair and performing flight UT742, departed from Antalya International Airport (AYT) in Turkey at 04:49 local time and was heading to Grozny (GRV) in Chechnya, Russia.
The aircraft was scheduled to land on Runway 08/26, according to Air Live. However, when the aircraft approached Grozny, the pilots began to descend onto a parallel runway that was shut down due to construction.
The footage shows the aircraft approaching the runway. The aircraft can be seen passing by an excavator and the entire construction site, before suddenly beginning to ascend again.
The pilots aborted the landing on time and managed to make a go-around, narrowly avoiding the construction vehicles. No explanation has currently been given regarding why the flight crew mixed up the runways.
The aircraft landed safely at GRV Airport at 06:59 local time the same day. There were no reports of any crew or passenger injuries.