Azimuth Airlines Superjet 100 Declares Emergency and Returns to Yerevan.

Another incident has taken place regarding the emergency landing. The article talks about the Azimuth Airlines Sukhoi Superjet 100, which made an emergency landing right after 20 minutes of its takeoff. The plane returned to Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) in Yereven, Armenia. 

According to the reports presented by SHOT (Russian Telegram channel), the airlines quickly conveyed squawk code 7700, which is an international transponder code that is especially made to send alerts to the air traffic control so that they can have an idea about the general emergency. 

The location of the plane was near Tslikar, which is 31 miles (50 kilometers) north of Yerevan, when the incident took place. 

Aircraft May Have Been Involved in an Earlier Incident

According to SHOT, the same incident took place in Yerevan in 2025 with an aborted takeoff, forcing the plane to return to its parking stand. Hence, the reports also mention that the aircraft’s registration has not been confirmed. During the fall of 2018 and 2019, six Azimuth Superjet 100s got delivered within the reported age range. Now 19 Superjet 100s are operated by the airline.

Azimuth Has Faced Previous Aircraft Incidents

Let's look at the recent incidents, which also involve the Russian carrier.

On November 24, 2024, an incident took place where an Azimuth Superjet 100 caught fire right after landing at Antalya Airport (AYT) in Turkey. Fortunately, all 95 passengers who were on board, which includes 89 passengers and six crew members, were evacuated safely using all the safety measures like emergency slides. However, the airplane still suffered a few damages from the fire. Later on, Sky News reported that the airline mentioned the reason for that incident was wind shear during landing. 

Another incident that took place with the same flight, Azimuth Superjet 100, where it lost all its engine fan parts right after departing Mineralnye Vdy Airport (MRV) for Yerevan. Although the airline landed safely, without any casualties reported.

Sanctions Add to Concerns Over Russian Aviation

All these incidents, especially the recent one, highlight the maintenance challenges that are happening with Russia’s aviation industry amidst all the political tensions of Western sanctions being imposed following its invasion of Ukraine.

The aircraft Superjet 100 is Russian-designed, but the former version of the aircraft had foreign-made components. There has been a request to impose the restrictions on replacement parts, and technical support has made the process of maintenance more complicated. As a result, the Russian manufacturers have been under pressure to get the substitutes for domestic flights. 

However, there have been no evidence about the maintenance on the latest emergency case, due to which the reason behind the incident remains unclear, and some answers from Azimuth or airline authorities are required to figure out the reason behind these disruptions. 

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