About 450 passengers on a Nordwind flight waiting to fly to Moscow from Sochi airport were trapped in a malfunctioning airplane.
In addition to the fact that the Boeing 777-300ER could not take off, it also lost power, and without air conditioning, people were practically in a “bathhouse”, desperately trying to cool themselves at least with improvised fans made of sheets of paper.
“Many passengers felt sick because of the stuffiness, but they are afraid to leave the board. They were warned that those who leave will have their tickets canceled without compensation. The tickets cost about 40 thousand rubles each,” local Telegram channels reported.
About 450 passengers on a Nordwind flight have been stranded for several hours at Sochi airport. Стартовать✈️должно was at 12:25. At first, the passengers were told that the plane had lost power, but then the captain got in touch and said that everything was fine. Then he disappeared. pic.twitter.com/RTopGdHIZz
– Team of Zina Portnova (@Zn_Portnova) September 26, 2023
Later, the captain himself got in touch with the passengers and explained that the airport staff could not “connect the tractor” because “there is no person who puts a bolt into a hole.”
“I am speechless. I have never seen anything like this before. It’s the first time in my 45 years of flying,” he admitted to the amazed passengers.
A Sochi-Moscow flight cannot take off because its engines are not working.
The ship’s commander addressed the passengers:
“The tractor has arrived and won’t connect, because there is no one to put in the right bolt… This is the first time in my 40 years of flying.” pic.twitter.com/FqMOxtm6a4– Zonov (@zonov_sl) September 26, 2023
It is worth noting that accidents and other emergencies in civil aviation in Russia were the result of Western sanctions, which left Russian carriers without the necessary components.
In order to somehow compensate for their shortage, the Russians began dismantling some of the planes for spare parts.
At the same time, a significant part of their fleet consists of aircraft stolen from lessors.
