[youtube]B2soba8xJFk[/youtube] Miracle Landing in Taiga ForestA Russian airliner with 81 people onboard made a miracle landing in Siberia following a mid-air power failure at cruising altitude.
The Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise plane was flying from Siberia to Moscow. Three and a half hours into the flight it lost electrical power, and the engines and navigation gear failed, Euronews reported.
The pilot managed to glide the jet down, guiding it to a disused military airstrip deep in the Siberian taiga.
"After its electrical equipment failed, the crew was forced to land the plane. The landing was manual, without radio contact," the prosecutors' office said in a statement, according to AFP.
The short Siberian runway was designed for helicopter use only so the Tupolev 154 crashed through 200 metres of forest before stopping, according to the statement.
All nine crew and 72 passengers were in shock after the incident but noone was seriously hurt.
Local bloggers hailed the pilot as a hero, calling for Russia to award him with a medal for the miraculous landing, reported AFP.
The Russian ITAR-TASS news agency said the stranded passengers continued to Moscow on another flight, except a couple who chose to travel by train after their ordeal.
