An Aviastar Tupolev Tu-204-100C had an engine burst into flames as it took off from an airport in Eastern Russia today. The cargo plane was departing for China, a journey that has become common over the last few years as Russian air freight traffic has increased in The sanctions have also led to involving Russian aircraft.

Eyewitnesses on the ground heard to see the Tupolev with a stream of flames and sparks trailing off engine number one, reports. The flight crew desperately dumped its fuel before making an emergency landing at Baikal Airport in Ulan-Ude, the same Siberian airport the plane took off from. It was reported that the eight people onboard, including five flight crew, were uninjured.

after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine The embargoed country is dealing with a plane parts shortage and can’t have Russian-owned Airbus and Boeing aircraft serviced overseas at maintenance facilities. There have been over 130 incidents involving planes from Russia, mainly due to parts failures.

Consequently, Russia has begun to rely on domestically produced aircraft, especially the Tupolev Tu-204. Less than 90 examples of the airliner have been built over the past 35 years. has offered to sell its older aircraft to local airlines

The state-owned United Aircraft Corporation has planned to restart production to make It remains unclear if Russian aviation will recover and actually become self-reliant.