KHANTY-MANSIYSK, August 26. /TASS/. A backup Air China aircraft that is to fetch passengers from the distressed London-Beijing flight has landed at the airport of Nizhnevartovsk in the Khanty-Mansi Region, according to the data from the Flightradar aircraft tracking service.

A spokesman for the Nizhnevartovsk airport confirmed to TASS that a reserve Boeing 777 had arrived.

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) reported earlier that a backup plane of Air China Airlines was expected to land in Nizhnevartovsk at 2:00 p.m. Moscow time (11:00 a.m. GMT) and depart for London at 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (3:00 p.m. GMT)

The Air China aircraft carrying 250 passengers and 15 crew members was flying from London to Beijing and carried out an unscheduled landing at the airport of Nizhnevartovsk in the Khanty-Mansi Region.

The agency specified that the preliminary cause of the unexpected landing was the malfunction of one of the engines. The crew sent the urgency PAN signal and requested permission to land.