Russian plane makes emergency landing in Egypt over engine malfunction

CAIRO

A Russian passenger plane on Friday was forced to make an emergency landing in Egypt shortly after takeoff due to a technical malfunction.

A Ural Airlines Airbus A-321 en route to Yekaterinburg, Russia carrying 236 passengers had to return to Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, said a statement by Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry.

The statement said that after a technical issue emerged in one of the engines just 10 minutes after takeoff, the pilot “immediately requested emergency landing clearance from air traffic control.”

It added that after the plane safely landed, “all passengers were securely transferred to the international terminal.”

It said expert teams had begun investigating the cause of the malfunction and started necessary repairs.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul