A plane from London Heathrow made an emergency landing in Russia early today. The Boeing 777-39L(ER) suffered “engine failure” and requested landing at Nizhnevartovsk in Siberia.

Footage shows the Air China aircraft – bound for Beijing – landing in the remote city in Russia’s Khanty-Mansi autonomous region. It was not immediately clear how many British citizens, if any, were aboard the stricken plane. The flight had left Heathrow at 10:43pm, and landed at 8:17am local time in Nizhnevartovsk – 3:17am UK time. An eyewitness told Russian news outlet Baza, which reportedly has links to the Russian security services: “Airport services were on high alert for the unexpected guest. It’s not every year that such a flight from the UK arrives in Nizhnevartovsk. But they prepared quickly — a suitable boarding ramp was immediately brought to the plane.

The plane was bound for Beijing (Image: East2West)

Flight tracking data for the plane (Image: East2West)

“What happens next is still unknown. Most likely, the company will send a reserve aircraft along with technicians and parts, since local technicians definitely will not be able to repair such a large airliner in Nizhnevartovsk.”

While it was initially reported that 311 people were on board of the plane, Russian sources later claimed there were 265 on board, including 15 crew.

While British and other Western airlines no longer overfly Russia due to Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, Chinese airlines flying to and from the UK do cross Russian airspace.

The Baza report, which claimed there was “no panic” on the aircraft, warned that the passengers could face temporary hardships after landing in the oil city, which is 1,435 miles east of Moscow.

“It is also unknown where such a large number of passengers will stay during the time the reserve aircraft is en route,” said the report. “It will be difficult to fit all the people in the local airport’s holding area.”

If visa rules were waived and access to local hotels was given, British passengers would have been unable to use their credit cards, as they do not operate in Russia due to sanctions.

However, it was later claimed that Russian authorities refused to allow the passengers off the plane – on flight CA856/CCA856 – following the emergency landing.

It was unclear why after three hours the Russians refused to allow passengers into the airport terminal as they awaited a replacement aircraft.

Current Foreign Office travel advice is to avoid all trips to Putin’s country, with warnings that foreigners can face detention or prosecution for activities seen as “against Russian interests”.

The report said the pilots chose Nizhnevartovsk “because the weather there was perfect at that moment, and the runway is very long, making it the best option among nearby airports for such a large airliner.”

The Ural Transport Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the emergency landing.