A hydraulic system failure caused a Ural Airlines (UA) flight to make an emergency landing in a field outside of Russia’s third-most populous city, Novosibirsk, on Tuesday, UA CEO Sergey Skuratov said at a news conference.

"A failure in the [aircraft’s] green hydraulic system occurred as the flight approached Omsk," he said, specifying that the aircraft is equipped with three continuously operating hydraulic systems.

According to Skuratov, the flight commander, fearing a fuel shortage, made the decision to land at a backup airfield outside of Novosibirsk. "The flight increased fuel consumption, and the flight commander realized that there might not be enough fuel to land at Novosibirsk Airport. So, he decided to land the aircraft in a field <…> with landing gear extended and he did so successfully," Skuratov said.