On 24 August, a Ural Airlines Airbus A320 (VQ-BGJ) between Moscow (DME) and Irkutsk (IKT) couldn’t land at Irkutsk due to bad weather. The pilots on flight U6105 then asked air traffic control to divert to another airport. Air traffic control suggested to head to Baikal Airport (formerly known as Ulan-Ude airport), an airport East of Irkutsk.
For an unknown reason, however, the pilots were confused and landed on a closed runway, while the active runway was free.
On the nearly completed new parallel runway mechanics were testing lights and signals. Luckily nobody got injured in the process, external damage was avoided and the aircraft remained intact. An investigation has been launched into the incident and a relief crew was sent to Baikal Airport to recover the aircraft.
Ural Airlines Airbus A320 (VQ-BGJ) mistakenly landed on a closed runway while diverting to Ulan-Ude Airport (UIUU) on flight #U6105 (Moscow-DME to Irkutsk) because of unfavorable weather. Fortunately, nobody was injured. https://t.co/lrwO9G2jDb pic.twitter.com/vXjV51GrzI
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) August 25, 2018