Malfunctions ground two planes in Russia

MOSCOW - Two passenger planes had to abort their flights due to technical problems, Russian aviation authorities reported Thursday.

In the first incident, a Boeing-757 heading to Barcelona in Spain aborted take-off in the city of Chelyabinsk in the Southern Urals due to an engine failure.

The plane made an emergency braking during acceleration after a right engine failed at 6:48 am local time (0048 GMT).

A witness told Interfax news agency the engine caught fire during acceleration. No passengers onboard the aircraft were hurt, local media reported.

A preliminary investigation suggested one possible cause could be a bird being sucked into the engine.

The plane belongs to the Moscow-registered IFly charter airline, which serves 13 domestic and five international destinations. The company's website does not report the incident.

Also Thursday, an Airbus-320 enroute from Vladivostok to Magadan, both in Russia's Far East, made an emergency landing at 10:00 Moscow time (0600 GMT).

Aviation authorities said the crew asked for an emergency landing at Khabarovsk after "detecting unusual vibrations" in the engines.

The plane landed safely with none of the 157 passengers and six crew hurt, they said.