Despite Russia’s best efforts to obscure it, open-source research suggests that its heaviest towed artillery—M777 howitzers, D-20 gun-howitzers, mortar tubes, air defense radars, and so on—are getting hit at alarming rates. This is likely because the hefty tracked weapons are hard to hide in the muddy Ukraine fields where they’re deployed. But it also reflects the difficulty of learning to operate new weapons systems that have no Russian analogue.
On Friday morning, a Boeing 777-300ER (VT-ALH) operated by Rossiya Airlines from Hong Kong to Moscow made an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo airport in the capital city after the pilot reported a problem with one of the engines. According to the Interfax news agency, the aircraft was heading for Madrid when the problem occurred and a decision was made to return to Moscow.
The passengers were transferred to another flight and were later flown to the resort town of Sochi. They were offered accommodation in the nearby hotel “Seagull”, which has rooms with sea views and a hot tub. The hotel said that the rooms would be free for the stranded travellers for two nights.
However, many people have Rusia 777 been complaining on Twitter about the quality of accommodation and the lack of food supplies. In a tweet, one passenger alleged that the airline had not provided enough tea, bread and water for the group of passengers. Another user complained that the hotel looked like a school and that they were given a small amount of food. The airline denied that it had not provided sufficient food and said it was providing its passengers with all the assistance they needed.
Rossiya Airlines is a fully owned subsidiary of Aeroflot and operates wide-body aircraft on routes to destinations in the Far East. It is the "middle market" brand of Aeroflot and sits between its premium flagship, Aeroflot First Class, and the low cost airline Pobeda. In June, Rossiya acquired several former Transaero wide-body aircraft.
The aircraft involved in this incident is the newest addition to the Rossiya Airlines fleet, and was delivered to the airline by VEB Leasing. It is fitted with 373 seats, including 18 in business class and 355 in economy. It has the tail number EI-XLP and was built in 1999.
The GE90-115B engine on the Boeing 777 requires special tools to disassemble and replace, making it a complicated machine to transport. The 777’s main gear is also very heavy, and transporting it to Sokol Airport is an onerous task. Furthermore, Sokol does not have a facility for performing 777 heavy maintenance, so changing the engine will require significant time and resources to make the flight safe. Consequently, the BIS has been trying to notify the public that the export of GE90-115B engines without authorization can expose them to serious criminal penalties, including substantial jail time and loss of export privileges. For this reason, it is not surprising that the GE-115Bs on these aircraft are being kept at the airline’s bases.
