Russian passenger plane returns to departure airport for technical reason

MOSCOW, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A Russian airplane departing for the resort city of Sochi turned back to the departure airport after takeoff for technical reasons, local authorities said Friday.

"According to preliminary data, today at about 13:00 (0600 GMT) during the flight on the route Novosibirsk-Sochi, the crew of the aircraft of Siberia Airlines decided to return to the airport of departure to check the pressurization and sealing systems..." the West Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office said on Telegram.

Earlier, TASS news agency, citing aviation services, said that the plane had reported a possible depressurization after takeoff.

According to flight tracking site Flightradar24, the Boeing-737, flight S7 5103, took off from the Novosibirsk Tolmachevo airport at 11:35 local time (0435 GMT) and has already made several circles in the area over the southern Novosibirsk region.