Blue tractor on Novosibirsk runway forces three jets to go around

A blue tractor turned up on the airfield at Novosibirsk-Tolmachevo without authorisation on 25 September. Three aircraft aborted their approaches shortly before 3pm local time, according to accounts carried by Russian media and confirmed by security sources to the newspaper Kommersant.

The jets were two Embraer E170s flown by S7 Airlines, arriving from Oskemen and Surgut, and a Rossiya Boeing 737-800 inbound from Sochi. All three landed safely on a second approach.

Where the vehicle actually was is disputed. Some Russian outlets placed it at the end of runway 34; others said it drove onto the runway itself. It had no permission to be there, and air traffic controllers had not been told about it.

The tractor belonged to a subcontractor of the construction firm Novosibirskavtodor and had been assigned to sow grass at the end of the runway, according to the Telegram channel Shot. An investigation is under way.