Amid Western sanctions against Moscow, triggered by the invasion of Ukraine, some Russian airlines have asked their pilots to use less brakes when landing. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, companies are concerned about the difficulty in replacing aircraft parts.
That’s because, with the sanctions, American and European manufacturers are prevented from selling aircraft and parts and from providing technical support to Russian companies. The restrictions impact, for example, the French Airbus and the American Boeing.
The Telegraph had access to internal documents from four companies: S7 Airlines, Urals Airlines, Rossiia and the low cost Pobeda. The first, for example, based in Siberia, instructed the pilots to, instead of using the brake, activate the engine’s reverse thrust — a mechanical procedure that helps braking and reduces wear on parts.
Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline and controlled by the government, would not have made such a request official – although, according to the report, its pilots are already talking about the subject. According to Politico, of the 187 Aeroflot planes, only 10 were not manufactured by Boeing or Airbus.
The latter saw 25 of its planes, used by Russian companies, being sanctioned last Tuesday (2) by the United States government. The restriction was based on a White House rule that allows such measurements on aircraft that, even if they are from foreign manufacturers, have at least 25% of the parts produced in the country.
The punishment was unprecedented; until then, they focused only on Boeing. “The identification of 25 aircraft produced abroad further degrades the ability of Russian airlines to operate their US and EU aircraft fleets,” US Commerce Department chief Matthew Axelrod told Reuters news agency.
Aviation safety specialist Lito Sousa explains that the recommendations of Russian companies regarding braking do not necessarily affect the direct safety of the air system, but they reduce the risk margin for accidents. According to him, by stepping on the brakes less, pilots need to travel more meters on the runway to land, which can lead to “congestion”.
Upon completion of the procedure, the plane moves to a lane connected to the runway for taxiing. In general, the first output is intended for small aircraft, the second for medium-sized aircraft, and so on; with the change, most planes would have to leave on the last “taxiway”, which could delay airport flow.
“It will be necessary to coordinate between the companies and the traffic control, a greater separation between the planes so that there is not an excess of go-arounds”, says Sousa.
Also, with less access to parts for maintenance, the Russians would need to remove parts from one aircraft to fix something damaged in another, limiting the number of planes in the industry. According to Sousa, if the sanctions persist, this would make it impossible for some companies to fly in two years.
Inside Russia, according to Politico, security concerns caused the Federal Air Transport Agency to close 11 smaller terminals, mainly in the center and south of the country.
The series of restrictions already impacts aviation students. THE Sheet Russian Pavel Prokoptsov, who teaches in Buguruslan, 1,200 kilometers from Moscow, said he listens to instructions from his superiors to use the brakes less because of the difficulty in buying maintenance parts. “Anyway, the instructors always ask us to return to the ground in one piece”, he jokes.
