(Newswire.net — November 27, 2014) — Igarka, Krasnoyarsk region Ru.- Cabin of Russian aircraft Tupolev Tu-134 sheltered the passengers traveling from remote Siberian town to Krasnoyarsk, from freezing -62F (-52C). At the time aircraft was expected to taxi to runway Captain said that they could not move because the wheels are frozen. Then, something very unusual happened.
No one burst in anger, no one threatened to sue, instead, passengers offered to help the crew by pushing airplane out of the glitch.
“The passengers disembarked to lighten the weight, and then they volunteered to move it,” spokeswoman for the UTair company told TASS news, as 74 passengers, who were on board, offered the seven-member crew and technical staff to help move the frozen Tupolev Tu-134 plane to the takeoff runway on Tuesday.
Locals, living approximately 100 miles (163 km) north of the Arctic Circle, in Igarka, the Krasnoyarsk region town, are quite used to cold weather. Russian airplanes are made to withstand freezing temperature, however, sometimes it is just to cold to operate them.
Having spent over 24 hours on the tarmac, the airplane’s wheels simply froze to the ground. After checking that brake systems are operational, the only problem was that ice ‘glued’ the wheels to the ground and it had to be moved by force.
The incident is currently under investigation, and will involve airport staff, the airline, crew and the passengers.
The passengers of the charter flight said pushing an airplane is a bit unusual, but they did not find it extraordinary. The rotation workers heading to Krasnoyarsk just went out and pushed. They understood there was no other way for the plane to take off, they said.
“Planted a tree, built a house, pushed a plane,” goes a new joke, referring to the three vital actions of a real Russian man, which also includes having a son, according to a local TV.
Nonetheless, the director of the local airport said, “The passengers must have decided to make some sort of a ‘selfie’. The joke proved right and became a good one on the internet.”
There are some who doubt the veracity of the story, suggesting that workers just wanted to have fun. The claim is that a group of passengers could not actually move a 70-ton aircraft, especially one with frozen wheels. Apparently it would be hard to reach the wings located at the height of over 2 meters, or move the aircraft without damaging the flaps.
In addition, the video posted on Internet shows a bright red rod for connecting the aircraft to a tow car (tractor) near the end of the video. It is unclear though, whether the passengers indeed helped ground crew with the tow car to move the aricraft.
One way or another, the plane successfully made it to Krasnoyarsk, and a video of passengers pushing an airplane went viral.