Last month, an S7 Sibir Airlines Boeing 737-800 had two go-arounds when trying to land at Chita in Russia before diverting to another airport. This unexpected encounter was due to a defective instrument landing system ILS.
A domestic affair
The Aviation Herald reports that during the late night of August 14th, registration VQ-BRQ was operating flight S7-5223 from Novosibirsk. It was on the final automatic ILS approach to Chita’s runway 29 in instrument meteorologic and night conditions.
However, the tower soon told crew members that there was an issue. Subsequently, the crew initiated a go-around and entered a hold. They attempted a second approach approximately half an hour later and descended along the ILS to decision height.
However, they could not establish visual contact with the runway. So, they went around and then diverted to Ulan-Ude, rising to FL220 on the way. The 737 landed safely in Ulan-Ude, which is approximately 222 nautical miles away from the intended airport.
Recent updates
The Aviation Herald adds that reports on September 12th reveal that the localizer beacon failure was because of a malfunction of localizer antenna 7. This was due to a fracture of the copper conductor from the high-frequency connector to the antenna. Moreover, position data that was gathered from the plane via ADS-B implies that the jet had not deviated from the extended center line or the glidepath on either approach when arriving.
More about the carrier
S7 is one of Russia’s largest domestic airlines. The carrier is based in Novosibirsk Oblast, but it has offices in Moscow. Notably, it serves approximately 150 destinations with over 100 aircraft.
According to Planespotters.net, the airline holds 22 Boeing 737s, making the type the second most common aircraft in its holdings. The Airbus A320 is the most prevalent member of the fleet, with 42 units.
However, S7 is evidently a fan of the A320 family across the board as it also holds 12 A319s and 11 A321s. 17 Embraer ERJ-170 aircraft currently make up the rest of the bunch. The operator also used to have Airbus A310s, Tupolev Tu-204s, and Boeing 737s.
Altogether, those on board the aircraft would have been delayed with last month’s incident. Nonetheless, thankfully the plane landed safely, and there are no reports of injuries.Â
Simple Flying reached out to S7 Sibir Airlines for comment on last month’s incident but did not hear back before publication. We will update the article with any further announcements.
What are your thoughts about this incident on an S7 Boeing 737 aircraft? Have you experienced a similar event while flying over the years? Let us know what you think of the situation in the comment section.
