An Uzbekistan Airways passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Saint Petersburg airport in northwest Russia today after suffering an engine failure, airport authorities said.
The Boeing 757-200, with 179 passengers and ten crew members aboard, circled the airport several times to burn off fuel before attempting the emergency landing, Saint Petersburg airport spokesman Igor Laptev told AFP.
"The aircraft carried out an emergency landing because one of the engines failed," he confirmed, adding that all passengers and crew were safe and well.
Investigators said the reason for the engine failure was not yet known.
