An Airbus A320neo flown by Russian carrier S7 Airlines was forced to shut an engine down after takeoff. The plane's right-hand engine indicated a failure shortly after taking off, forcing pilots to shut it down and return the plane to Novosibirsk.

Engine failure causes shut down

An S7 Airlines Airbus A320-200neo (registration: VQ-BDQ) suffered engine failure as it took off from Novosibirsk. The aircraft was conducting Flight S7-5227 from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk when the incident took place soon after takeoff. The plane was on its initial climb when the right engine, a PW1127G, indicated a failure.

The aircraft's PW1127g engine indicated a failure, which forced a prompt shutdown. Photo: Anna Svereva via Wikimedia Commons

Pilots immediately shut the engine down and returned to Novosibirsk. The aircraft leveled off and made a safe landing at Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport about 20 minutes after taking off. The flight had 154 passengers and six crew onboard. A replacement A320neo (registration: VQ-BRA) conducted the flight and arrived in Irkutsk with around three hours delay.

This isn't the first incident in recent memory involving an S7 aircraft. Most famously, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny became seriously ill onboard an S7 flight from Tomsk to Moscow in a case of suspected poisoning. In September, an S7 Boeing 737 experienced a faulty ILS and was forced to go-around twice at Chita before pilots decided to divert and land at Ulan-Ude, over 200 miles away.

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The plane is less than three years old

The plane that suffered the engine failure is, according to Planespotters.net, less than three years old and is on lease. S7 Airlines leases the jet from AerCap, the world's largest leasing firm, which serves over 200 customers globally. The plane was delivered to S7 in May 2018 and is fitted with two Pratt & Whitney engines (PW1127g).

S7 Airlines currently has 24 A320neos, the most of any plane type across its fleet, with another three on order from Airbus. The average age of its A320neo fleet is just two years old, with the carrier taking delivery of its first jet back in July 2017.

Russian aviation shows shoots of recovery

Across February 2021, airlines in Russia served 5.1 million passengers, representing a 37% drop compared to the same period in 2020. However, these figures show promising evidence of a slow but steady recovery for Russian aviation. In December, passenger levels were down 43% compared to the previous year, while in January this was cut to 38%.

Privately owned S7 continues to lead the way for Russian air traffic recovery. Photo: Getty Images

S7 Airlines carried 1.19 million passengers across January and 1.06 million in February, making it the market leader in Russia for the 11th consecutive month. The airline has been doing comparatively better year-on-year compared to its competitors, operating at about 15% less capacity. Aeroflot, on the other hand, flew at 60% less capacity compared to last year. In comparison, Pobeda actually saw an increase of 3% in passenger numbers.

Have you ever flown on an aircraft that suffered from engine failure? Let us know all the details in the comments.