AIR passengers in Siberia had to get out and push their plane in temperatures of minus 52 degrees Celsius after its chassis froze.

    The extraordinary story emerged after a passenger posted a video on YouTube showing a group of cheery travelers pushing the Tupolev plane on the snow-covered runway in Igarka, which is beyond the Arctic Circle.

    “Let’s go,” passengers in thick winter coats shouted and whooped as they put their hands on the wings of the plane and shoved it several meters along the runway.

    Transport prosecutors in western Siberia said they were investigating the incident, which took place Tuesday.

    “Due to the low air temperatures, the chassis’ brake system froze and a tow truck was unable to move the plane onto the taxiway to carry out the flight,” prosecutors said. “The passengers got out of the plane and started pushing it onto the taxiway.”

    Even for Russians inured to long winters of sub-zero temperatures, the passengers’ can-do chutzpah drew admiration.

    “Siberians are so tough that for them pushing a frozen plane along a runway is a piece of cake,” said Komsomolskaya Pravda.

    The plane with 74 passengers on board was being operated by a Siberian airline called Katekavia, which is part of UTair group. It was flying from Igarka, around 2,800 km northeast of Moscow, to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

    The technical director of Krasnoyarsk-based Katekavia, Vladimir Artemenko, said: “That morning it was minus 52.” Passengers pushed the plane until it was able to turn and then the tow truck took over, he said. The flight then took off and went smoothly.

    (SD-Agencies)