PHOTOS: Russian pilot does a ‘Sully’, crash-lands plane in field

A Russian passenger jet with 233 on board hit a flock of birds, forcing it to make an emergency landing in a cornfield nearby Moscow, Russia on Thursday

The Airbus A321 aircraft of Ural Airlines with 226 passengers and seven crew members flying from Moscow’s Zhukovsky airport to Simferopol in Russia-annexed Crimea collided with a flock of birds which created engine troubles shortly after take-off. The plane landed with its engines off and landing gear retracted in a corn field only about a km from the runway

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According to reports, the health ministry said 23 people were hospitalised, including nine children, but none suffered serious injuries

The pilot of the aircraft, Damir Yusupov, is being hailed as a hero by the Russian media. Aviation safety specialist David Learmount, in a Skype interview with Al Jazeera, drew comparisons of the incident with US Airways flight 1549 which performed a landing on the Hudson River in 2009 after striking a flock of geese. The landing was made into an acclaimed Tom Hanks movie Sully.