The former commander of the Ural Airlines Airbus A320, which made an emergency landing in a field in the Novosibirsk region in September 2023, has requested his criminal case be transferred to a court in Omsk. The request is based on the fact that the majority of victims and witnesses involved in the case reside in the Omsk region.

The case, initially sent to the Barabinsky District Court of the Novosibirsk Region after investigation, is now with the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction for a decision on the change of venue. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, citing violation of air transport safety rules that resulted in large-scale damage through negligence.

The incident occurred on September 12, 2023, when the Airbus A320, carrying over 160 passengers and crew, landed in a field near the village of Moskovka. A failure in one of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems prompted the pilots to divert to Novosibirsk, which offered a longer runway than Omsk; however, the aircraft did not have sufficient fuel to reach Novosibirsk. Subsequent expert analysis suggested the plane could have safely landed in Omsk, attributing the emergency landing to errors made by the crew commander, Sergei Belov.

Sergei Belov was dismissed from Ural Airlines on April 15, 2024, at his own request.