The relatives of the two pilots that were forced to land an Airbus A320 passenger jet in a Russian cornfield have said the men were asked to resign following the incident.
Russian news outlet Izvestia was reportedly told about the development on December 6, 2023, directly from relatives of the Ural Airlines pilots.
According to sources the Russian flag carrier gave no explanation, but both pilots Sergei Belov and Eduard Semenov refused to sign resignation letters.
Confusion surrounding the crash has grown since the Airbus A320 was forced to land in a field just outside of Novosibirsk, in southern Siberia, on September 12, 2023, after running low on fuel.
Following the incident, it was reported that the Airbus A320 experienced a failure of its hydraulic system as it approached Omsk Tsentralny Airport (OMS), and the crew chose to divert to another airport.
However, as the plane flew to the alternative airport it became apparent the aircraft did not have enough fuel to land there.
After an initial report into the incident was published on October 31, 2023, the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia (Rosaviatsiya) came out and said a new investigation was needed due to “newly discovered circumstances”.
Izvestia then reported on November 17, 2023, that Rosaviatsiya had “identified 15 errors and contradictions” with the original report.
Among its concerns the Russian agency was particularly troubled by the “unacceptably low level” of the pilots training and discrepancies found in the report.
The Airbus A320 is still stranded in the Russian field with a decision on its fate yet to be confirmed.